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REV.  J.  T/CRANE,  D.  D., 

Of  the  Newark  Cofi/eretice. 


ITU     -A-InT     32srTE.OX)TJCTI01sr, 


BISHOP  E.  S.  JANES. 


^For  t/te  Commandment  is  a  La?n/> ;  and  the  Light  is  Life  ;  and  Reproofs  of 
lustriiction  are  the  Way  of  Life.'''    Proverbs  vi,  23. 


#^#^ 


CINCINNA  TI: 
HITCHCOCK   AND    WALDEN, 

NE]V  YORK: 

CARLTON  AND  LANAHAN. 

1869. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1869,  by 
HITCHCOCK  &  WALDEN, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  Ohio. 


Contents 


INTRODUCTION. 

Subject  one  of  Grave  Interest — Rule  of  Discipline — Charles 
Wesley  and  the  Ministers — The  True  Ground — Our  Destiny, 
and  on  what  it  Depends — The  Sentiment  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church — How  a  Minister  may  seek  Recreation — 
How  a  Layman — Recommendation,  .        .         Page      9 

CHAPTER  I. 

RECREATION   A   GOOD   THING. 

City  full  of  Boys  and  Girls,  playing — Play  not  wrong — Let 
the  Children,  the  Youth,  the  Mature,  and  even  the  Aged 
have  their  times  of  Rest  and  Recreation — Laughter  as  pious 
as  Tears — How  shall  we  Play? — The  World  wants  to  Play 
with  the  Church,  and  lead  us  in  their  Path — Total  Sepa- 
ration neither  Desirable  nor  Possible — One  or  the  other 
must  Yield — The  Church  can  not — Conscience  Resists — 
Principles  are  in  the  way — The  World  can  Yield  and  Lose 
Nothing — The  World  ought  to  Yield,    .        .        .        .17 

3 


4  CONTENTS, 

CHAPTER   II. 

TRUE  RECREATION. 

What  is  the  Aim  of  Recreation  ? — Rules  that  Govern  : 
I.  Our  Recreations  must  not  be  Immoral  j  2.  Not  Damag- 
ing to  Christian  Reputation;  3.  Must  not  Interfere  with 
Our  Duty ;  4.  Must  not  Injure  Health ;  5.  Must  not  Waste 
Money ;  6.  Must  not  Waste  Time ;  7.  Ought  to  Improve 
the  Mind  and  the  Heart;  8.  Ought  to  Impart  Pleas- 
ure,         Page    31 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE     THEATER. 

Said  to  be  a  Good  Place  to  Learn  History,  etc. — Some 
Plays  "as  Good  as  Sermons" — Doubts — Theater  always  a 
Haunt  of  Evil — Must  be  so  or  Fail — The  Theater  that  tried 
to  be  "  Respectable  " — Failure,  and  the  Causes  of  it — Strat- 
egy and  Calculation — Who  must  be  Pleased,  and  how — Im- 
modest Costume  an  Indispensable  Attraction — Circular,  and 
Reply  of  Actress — Birds  of  Prey — Traps  Game  for  them — 
The  fable  of  Satan  and  the  Monk — Theater  can  not  be  Re- 
formed— Cage  of  every  Unclean  Bird — "  Come  out  of  her, 
my  people," 47 

CHAPTER    IV. 

HORSE-RACING. 

Horse  a  Noble  Beast,  no  doubt — Races  prohibited  by 
Civil   Law — Revived  under  new   name — Agricultural   Fair, 


CONTENTS,  _       5 

and  what  may  be  seen  thereat — Ludicrous  side  of  things — 
Twenty  gawky  Boys  with  their  Colts — Strange  Man  and 
Horse — Science — Victory — The  Effect  on  gawky  Boys — 
Reasons  against  Horse-racing — Expense — Bets  —  Fraud — 
Riot — Villainy  of  All  Sorts — How  the  thing  is  done,  and 
the  People  cheated — Quotation  from  Thomas  Hughes, 
M.  P Page    63 

CHAPTER    V. 

BASE    BALL. 

The  Ancient  and  Honorable  Way — Latter-day  Absurdi- 
ties— "  Great  National  Game  " — Clubs  ;  how  formed — Sci- 
ence— Professional  Players  and  their  Salaries — Expenses — 
The  Exotics  challenge  the  Cupids — Game  described — Vic- 
tory—  Supper — Speeches — Glowing  Account  in  Papers — 
Pain-killers— Bubble  must  Burst— Decay — Reasons  against 
the  Game  as  now  conducted — Foolish  Exhibition — Bets — 
Cheating — Waste  of  Money — No  Good  Result  of  any 
sort, 77 

CHAPTER  VL 

DANCING. 

"Dances  not  all  alike"— Bad  and  Worse— ''The  Ger- 
man"— Mere  motion  not  wrong — The  Old  Gentleman  and 
his  Exercises — Imaginary  Scene  in  "  Happy  Family  " — Rea- 
sons AGAINST  Dancing  :  i.  Lacks  the  Elements  of  True 
Recreation ;   2.  Has  a  Bad  Historic  Name  ;  3.  Inconsistent 


6  •    CONTENTS. 

with  Piety;  4.  Leads  to  Undesirable  Associations — Evil  in 
many  ways, Page    89 

CHAPTER  VII. 

CARDS,    CHESS,    AND    BILLIARDS. 

Cards  an  Old  Game — Origin,  Asiatic — History — Home 
Tooke  and  George  III — Author  confesses  his  Want  of 
Knowledge — Cards  the  Gambler's  Tools — Game  adds  noth- 
ing to  Mind  or  Heart — Dangerous  to  some — Betting — Rea- 
sons against  Card-playing — Chess  also  Ancient — Origin — 
Play  a  Laborious  Nothing — Wastes  Time — Wastes  Brain- 
power—  Hinders  Mental  Culture — Billiards — Big  Mar- 
bles— How  Played — Women  can  never  become  Experts, 
and  Why — Poor  Affair  generally,  ....     105 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

NOVELS    AND    NOVEL-READING. 

Pefinition  of  a  Novel — A  Vice  of  the  Age — Four  Max- 
ims :  I.  No  Fiction  if  Little  Leisure ;  2.  Only  the  Best ;  3. 
Fiction  to  be  but  Small  Part ;  4.  If  any  Harm  results,  Stop 
at  Once— Seven  Reasons  against  Common  Novel-read- 
ing :  I.  Wastes  Time ;  2.  Injures  the  Intellect ;  3.  Unfits 
for  Real  Life ;  4.  Creates  Overgrowth  of  the  Passions ;  5. 
Produces  Mental  Intoxication ;  6.  Lessens  the  Horror  of 
Crime  and  Wrong;  7.  Wars  with  all  Piety — Disciplinary 
Rule, 121 


CONTENTS.  7 

CHAPTER    IX. 

SOCIAL    GATHERINGS. 

No  List  of  Recreations  Furnished,  and  Why — One  Sug- 
gestion, nevertheless — The  Indolent  have  No  Claim — The 
Busy  need  Recreation — The  Sedentary  need  Air  and  Sun- 
beams— The  Active  want  Books — The  Solitary  require  So- 
ciety— Talk  the  Universal  Recreation — Social  Life — Grand 
"Party" — More  Excellent  Way  suggested — What  the  Fitz- 
shoddies  Think  —  Mrs.  F.'s  Disappointment  —  Mr.  F. 
Doubts — Miss  F.  Trembles — The  Reform  Unpopular — 
The  Author  Despondent  in  regard  to  it,  yet  Firm  in  the 
Faith, Page     153 

CHAPTER  X. 

APPEAL  TO  THE  YOUNG  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Word  of  Exhortation — Reasons  why  we  should  Ab- 
stain FROM  ALL  Questionable  Diversions  :  i.  Our 
Church  has  always  Condemned  them ;  2.  Solemn  Vows  bind 
us;  3.  Offenses  disturb  our  Pastor  and  our  Fellow-Chris- 
tians; 4,  Our  Errors  injure  the  Unconverted;  5.  Error  mars 
Usefulness;  6.  Compromise  Positions  hard  to  hold,  either 
in  Argument  or  Practice — Fight  on  the  Right  Line,       .     169 

CHAPTER    XI. 

APPEAL  TO  THE   CHURCH. 

Lafayette's  Witty  Illustration  of  Compromises  —  Mr. 
Bright's    Description    of    Fashionable    Religion  —  Compro- 


8  .  CONTENTS. 

mise  bad,  even  as  a  Policy— The  World  despises  a  Timid 
Church — Methodism  has  Prospered — Our  Laws  strict — 
Folly  to  Come  Down  now — How  the  Worldly  Parson  an- 
gled for  an  Accession  and  caught  nothing — What  Mr.  B. 
said— The  exact  Right  is  the  strong  Position— Hold  it- 
Let  others  Hive  the  Drones — Where  other  Churches 
Stand — Testimony  of  the  Presbyterians — The  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  South — Young  Men's  Christian  Associ- 
ation—The Roman  Catholic  Church— The  End.     Page     189 


Introduction 


THE  subject  of  which  this  book  treats — 
"Popular  Amusements" — is  one  of  grave 
interest  to  the  Church  and  to  society  in  general. 
The  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
has  always  required  its  members  and  probationers, 
as  an  evidence  of  religious  earnestness,  to  refrain 
from  "such  diversions  as  can  not  be  used  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,"  and  also  from  "singing 
those  songs  or  reading  those  books  which  do  not 
tend  to  the  knowledge  or  love  of  God."  In  the 
following  passages  of  Holy  Scripture,  worldly 
amusements  or  pleasures  are  denounced  by  God : 
"He  that  loveth  pleasure  shall  be  a  poor  man." 
"Therefore  hear  now  this,  thou  that  art  given  to 

9 


lO  INTRODUCTION. 

pleasure,  that  dwellest  carelessly."  The  conse- 
quences referred  to  in  this  quotation  are  stated 
in  the  following  verses  of  the  chapter.  Being 
"lovers  of  pleasure  more  than  lovers  of  God," 
is  -classed  by  Timothy  as  one  of  the  worst  attri- 
butes of  wicked  men.  How  terrible  is  this  state- 
ment: "But  she  that  liveth  in  pleasure  is  dead 
while  she  liveth!"  Consider,  also,  this  Scripture 
precept :  "  And  whatsoever  ye  do  in  word  or"  deed, 
do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  In  view 
of  these  and  like  Scripture  utterances,  how  is 
it  possible  to  believe  that  exciting,  dissipating, 
worldly  amusements  are  compatible  with  spiritual 
life  or  devotional  enjoyment? 

The  experience  of  multitudes  corresponds  with 
these  teachings  of  the  Discipline  and  the  Bible. 
Take  this  instance.  On  one  occasion  Mr.  Charles 
Wesley  was  warning  the  people  against  so-called 
"harmless  diversions,"  and  declared  that  by  them 
he  had  been  kept  dead  to  God,  asleep  in  the  arms 
of  Satan,  and  secure  in  a  state  of  damnation  for 
eighteen  years.  There  were  three  ministers  pres- 
ent besides  Mr.  Wesley.     Mr.  Meriton  cried  out, 


INTRODUCTION.  1 1 

"And  I  for  twenty-five!"  "And  I,"  exclaimed 
Mr.  Thompson,  "for  thirty-five!"  "And  I," 
added  Mr.  Bennett,  "  for  about  seventy !"  These 
cases  of  Christian  ministers  suggest  how  gen- 
eral and  how  baleful  is  the  influence  of  these  di- 
versions. 

This  evil,  perhaps,  is  not  peculiar  to  any  clime 
or  age.  Diversions,  indeed,  change  with  the  times. 
The  fashionable  follies  of  the  last  century  are  now 
deemed  matters  of  wonder  and  derision,  just  as 
the  follies  of  our  day  may  be  laughed  at  a  hun- 
dred years  hence.  But  worldliness,  fashion,  and 
frivolity  are  always  at  work  inventing  questionable 
pleasures  and  ingenious  arguments  for  their  de- 
fense. Possibly  it  is  unreasonable  to  expect  but 
one  opinion  as  to  what  is  allowable  in  the  way  of 
recreation.  As  there  are  various  degrees  of  knowl- 
edge and  piety  in  the  Church,  and  various  degrees 
of  conscientiousness  among  even  those  who  do  not 
profess  religion,  there  will  be  conflicting  opinions 
on  the  subject,  one  condemning  what  another  de- 
fends, and  each  wondering  at  the  scrupulousness  or 
the  laxity  of  his  neighbor.     On  this,  as  on  all  other 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

subjects,  Christians  sliould  judge  each  other  char- 
itably, but  by  the  Scripture  standard. 

This  Httle  volume  takes  what  I  believe  to  be 
the  true  ground  in  regard  to  the  diversions  dis- 
cussed in  it — the  only  ground  which  is  defensible 
in  theory  and  safe  in  practice.  The  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  is  strong  in  numbers,  in  wealth, 
and  in  social  position.  If  we  maintain  the  strict 
morals  and  the  deep  spirituality — and  they  go  to- 
gether— which  have  hitherto  been  our  aim,  we 
shall  be  in  the  years  to  come,  in  the  hands  of 
God,  an  instrumentality  of  unlimited  power  for 
good.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  become  weak  in 
our  belief  and  lax  in  discipline,  the  members  of 
the  Church  fashionable  and  frivolous,  and  the  min- 
isters doubtful  and  indefinite  in  doctrine,  and  fee- 
ble in  utterance,  we  shall  lose  the  position  we  have 
held  among  the  Churches  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  God  will  raise  up  another  people  to  take  our 
place  and  our  crown.  But  we  trust  in  God  we 
shall  never,  as  a  Church,  be  moved  from  our  old 
foundation  in  doctrines  or  in  morals.  Though 
worldliness  and  unbelief  may  continue  to  assail 


INTRO  D  UCTION.  1 3 

her,  yet  the  Church  is  strong  in  that  power  which 
overcomes  the  world. 

Recently  the  advocates  of  popular  amusements 
have  been  both  bold  and  insidious.  They  have 
used  the  pulpit,  the  press,  and  so-called  "Chris- 
tian Associations"  to  propagate  their  views.  In 
some  cases  they  recommend  what  are  considered 
the  less  objectionable  diversions  to  prevent  indul- 
gence in  the  more  objectionable  ones — on  the 
principle  "of  two  evils  choose  the  less."  But  in 
morals  the  lesser  evil  always  tends  to  introduce 
the  greater.  The  proposition,  therefore,  is  a  most 
mischievous  one.  To  those  individuals  among  us 
who  have  been  disturbed  in  their  religious  convic- 
tions on  this  question,  by  the  deceptive  pleas  of 
those  who  defend  or  advocate  worldly  amusements, 
this  book  will  be  found  an  effective  helper.  In  it 
Dr.  Crane  speaks  the  sentiments  of  the  Methodist 
Church.  We  believe  the  position  we  have  hith- 
erto held  on  this  subject  is  Scriptural  and  safe, 
and  that,  rigid  as  the  world  deems  it,  our  disci- 
plinary rule  is  wise  and  needful. 

These  fashionable  diversions  are  not  necessary 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

for  the  health  of  the  body  or  mind,  but  are  harm- 
ful to  both.  All  the  recreation  that  any  pious, 
sensible  person  needs  is  provided  in  the  variety 
of  his  duties,  and  the  many  and  ample  sources 
of  rational  enjoyment.  Does  the  studious,  hard- 
working minister  need  recreation.?  Let  him  find 
it  in  turning  from  the  severe  study  of  theology 
to  biography,  or  poetry,  or  rhetoric,  or  logic? 
Does  he  need  a  still  greater  change.?  Let  him 
take  up  for  the  time  being  astronomy,  or  geology, 
or  history.  Does  he  need  physical  as  well  as 
mental  relaxation  and  change.?  Certainly  he  can 
find  them  in  his  pastoral  work — in  visiting  the 
sick,  in  instructing  childhood,  in  looking  after  the 
general  interests  of  the  Church,  in  walking,  or 
riding,  or  attending  to  the  interests  of  his  family, 
or  enjoying  their  society.  Surely,  here  is  a  vast 
realm  in  which  he  can  find  rest  and  recreation 
both  for  soul  and  body,  and  grow  wiser  and  better 
all  the  while.  Does  the  layman  of  the  Church 
need  recreation  as  a  relief  from  the  monotonou 
and  exhausting  labors  and  cares  that  come  upon 
him  daily.?     Let  him  find  it  in  gardening,  in  culti- 


INTR  OD  UCTION.  1 5 

vating  flowers,  in  reading,  in  music,  in  Christian 
activities,  in  domestic  offices  and  intercourse,  in 
social  visiting,  in  attending  instructive  lectures, 
in  attending  devotional  meetings.  These  are  ra- 
tional, spiritual,  satisfying  enjoyments.  None  but 
the  weak,  who  think  more  of  conformity  to  the 
world  than  of  conformity  to  Christ,  hanker  after 
any  other. 

Dr.  Crane  has  treated  this  subject  clearly, 
Methodistically,  and  Scripturally.  The  book  is  a 
timely  and  useful  addition  to  the  literature  of  the 
Church.  I  trust  the  publishers  will  put  it  in  an 
attractive  form,  and  that  it  will  have  an  extensive 
circulation,   do    good    to    many  souls,   and  bring 

much  glory  to  God. 

E.  S.  JANES. 

New  York,  Jujie  24,  1869. 


Popular    Aimusements. 


CHAPTER    I. 

RECREATION  A  GOOD  THING. 

^^And  the  streets  of  the  city  shall  be  full  of  boys  and  girls, 
playing  in  the  streets  thereof.^''    Zech.  viii,  5. 


THE  prophet  thus,  as  with  a  single 
stroke  of  his  pencil,  paints  a  beautiful 
picture  of  peace,  plenty,  and  public  security. 
In  times  of  riot  and  wild  disorder,  the  chil- 
dren are  kept  within  doors,  that  they  may  be 
out  of  the  way  of  harm.  In  time  of  war, 
children  may  be  seen  in  the  streets  of  the 
city ;  but  they  are  there  clinging  in  terror  to 

the  hands   of  their  parents,  and  surrounded 
2  17 


1 8  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

by  the  confusion  and  alarm  of  a  population 
flying  from  the  foe.  When  famine  reigns,  a 
few  children  may  be  found  in  the  streets; 
but  they  are  the  wan,  emaciated  victims  of 
hunger,  who  wander  from  their  desolate  homes 
to  beg,  with  tears  and  outstretched  hands,  for 
bread.  If  the  war  or  the  famine  continue  its 
ravages,  the  number  of  children  steadily  de- 
creases. In  seasons  of  public  calamity,  little 
children  die,  as  the  tender  blossoms  of  Spring 
perish  beneath  the  volleys  of  untimely  hail. 
In  the  prophetic  picture,  therefore,  the  num- 
bers of  the  children,  their  merry  sports,  and 
the  public  places  where  they  are  playing,  all 
give  token  of  the  safety  and  prosperity  of  a 
people  whom  the  Lord  protects  and  blesses. 

But  if  this  be  so,  it  can  not  be  wrong  for 
boys  and  girls  to  play.  A  doubt  upon  this 
point  would  mar  the  representation  and  de- 
stroy the  force  of  the  imagery.  No,  let  the 
children  play — not,  indeed,  without  limit ;  not 
to  the  neglect  of  study,   nor  of  such  useful 


RECREATION  A  GOOD  THING.  1 9 

labor  as  they  ought  to  perform ;  not  in  modes 
that  transgress  Divine  law,  nor  in  the  com- 
pany of  those  who  will  teach  them  corrupt 
language  and  evil  deeds :  still,  let  the  children 
play.  Let  them  leap,  and  laugh,  and  shout. 
Let  them  have  their  playthings  and  their  pets. 
Let  them  not  fear  the  sun  nor  the  winds  of 
heaven,  thaugh  their  cheeks  ripen  like  peaches 
in  the  light  and  the  heat,  and  though  faces 
and  garments  occasionally  show  that  man  still 
retains  an  affinity  for  the  dust  whence  he  was 
originally  taken. 

Let  the  youth  have  their  seasons  of  recrea- 
tion. Their  amusements,  indeed,  ought  to  be 
of  a  higher  intellectual  type  than  those  of 
little  children.  Nevertheless,  amusements  are 
still  lawful  and  expedient.  Let  there  be  times 
when  the  student  shall  lay  aside  the  book,  and 
the  clerk,  the  apprentice,  and  the  farmer's 
boys  and  girls  forget  their  work.  Let  the 
youth,  rich  or  poor,  humble  or  exalted,  at 
home  beneath   the   parental  roof,   or  in   the 


20  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

employ  or  under  the  care  of  strangers,  have 
their  periods  of  rest  and  recreation.  And  if 
the  time  and  the  mode  are  wisely  chosen, 
there  will  be  no  loss  but  a  real  gain  to  all 
concerned.  The  student  will  return  to  the 
lesson  with  a  better  courage  and  a  clearer 
brain,  and  the  fingers  which  are  busy  with  the 
affairs  of  tjie  house,  the  office,  the  shop,  or 
the  field  will  ply  their  task  more  nimbly. 

Let  middle  life,  too,  immersed,  as  it  is,  in 
the  cares  and  toils  of  this  busy  existence, 
have  its  hours  of  leisure  and  freedom.  Brain 
and  muscles  both  need  rest,  and  the  burden 
will  feel  the  lighter  for  being  occasionally  laid 
aside.  Industry  is  indeed  a  virtue.  Let  ev- 
ery man,  woman,  and  child  have  something 
useful  to  do,  and  do  it.  I  would  not,  for  one 
moment  even,  seem  to  defend  idleness,  or 
apologize  for  the  follies  of  the  aimless  devotee 
of  shallow  pleasures ;  yet  I  am  persuaded  that 
not  a  few  of  our  most  valued  workers  in-  fields 
of   lofty   usefulness   would    find    their  heads 


RECREATION  A  GOOD  THING.  21 

growing  gray  less  rapidly  if  they  could  be  in- 
duced to  take  an  occasional  rest. 

And  let  the  aged,  also,  have  their  rec- 
reations. It  is  not  unbecoming  for  them 
to  devote  an  hour,  now  and  then,  to  the 
quiet  pleasures  which  smooth  the  brow  and 
wreathe  the  lip  with  smiles.  In  itself  it  is 
just  as  pious  to  laugh  as  to  weep,  and  there 
are  a  great  many  cases  where  it  is  wiser 
and  better  to  laugh.  For  the  old  and  the 
young  there  are  social  enjoyments  and  recre- 
ations which  brighten  the  passing  moments 
and  leave  no  shadow  behind  them ;  which 
send  us  back  to  the  graver  employments  of 
life  with  a  lighter  heart  and  stronger  frame. 
Travelers  sometimes  tell  us  that  of  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  the  Americans  have  the 
fewest  public  holidays.  This,  if  true,  is  not 
much  to  be  regretted.  A  public  holiday  is 
very  apt  to  be  a  public  nuisance,  disturbing 
the  peace  of  quiet  people,  and  multiplying 
temptations  for  the  young  and   the  thought- 


22  POPULAR  AMUSEMEN-PS. 

less.  If  there  are  anniversaries  and  days  of 
patriotic  uproar,  to  which  gunpowder  and  al- 
cohol alone  can  do  justice,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  the  multiplication  of  them  is  not 
desirable.  Moreover,  if  custom  fails  to  pre- 
scribe times  and  modes  of  recreation,  it  leaves 
families  and  societies  the  freer  to  choose  for 
themselves. 

But  on  what  principle  are  we  to  choose  our 
recreations  .-*  Are  we  at  liberty  to  follow  the 
multitude,  inquiring,  not  for  the  best  reason, 
but  the  latest  fashion.?  No  intelligent  Chris- 
tian will  fail  to  see  that  he  must  be  as  con- 
scientious in  his  play  as  in  his  work.  Ever 
applicable,  ever  authoritative,  the  divine  depo- 
sition of  the  unchanging  principles  of  justice, 
safety,  and  right,  the  holy  law  is  designed  for 
all  hours  of  the  individual  life,  even  as  it  is 
designed  for  all  ages  of  the  world. 

The  question  of  amusements  for  religious 
people  is  one  of  the  great  problems  of  the 
day.     The  very   successes   of   the   Gospel   in 


RECREATION  A  GOOD  THING.  23 

our  own  land  have  brought  upon  the  Church 
perils  which  were  unknown  in  the  ages  when 
the  victories  of  the  truth  were  less  decisive. 
In  the  Apostolic  age,  when  the  world  was 
heathen,  and  God's  people  a  little  flock  in 
the  midst  of  their  enemies,  every  man  and 
woman  was  either  Christian  or  pagan,  one 
thing  or  the  other ;  the  Church  and  the  world 
were  separated  by  a  chasm  wide  and  deep,  and 
the  only  feelings  common  to  both  parties  were 
distrust  and  aversion.  Again :  not  very  many 
years  ago,  in  our  own  community,  there  were 
few  young  people  to  be  found  among  the 
members  of  the  various  Churches.  The  gay 
multitude  pursued  their  pleasures  with  a  reck- 
less extravagance  and  a  giddy  disregard  of 
the  realities  of  life  which  alarmed  the  sober- 
minded,  and  effectually  repelled  the  conscien- 
tious. The  Church  marched  in  order  of 
battle,  all  eyes  looking  for  the  foe,  and  all 
weapons  bared  for  conflict.  The  world,  not 
always  in   the  humor  for  direct  attack,  went 


24  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

on  its  own  way,  strong  in  the  fancied  strength 
of  numbers,  and  sornetimes  tried  to  laugh,  and 
sometimes  affected  to  sneer  at  the  scruples 
of  the  pious.  Each  was  a  compact  force, 
openly  wearing  its  own  uniform  and  arraying 
itself  under  its  own  banner.  The  antagonism 
was  universally  recognized  and  felt. 

But  in  our  own  times,  and  in  most  sections 
of  our  land,  the  truth  has  conquered.  The 
world  no  longer  carries  on  a  fierce  and  open 
war  against  the  religion  of  the  Bible.  The 
Church  possesses  so  much  worth,  intelligence, 
wealth,  and  social  power,  that  the  worldly  part 
of  the  community  feel  that  it  would  not  be 
wise  for  them  to  try  to  keep  aloof  from  the 
pious  and  set  up  for  themselves.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  world  deems  it  policy  to  nestle  close 
up  to  the  Church,  and  in  many  cases  it  con- 
ducts itself  so  respectably,  and  is  so  correct 
in  outward  seeming,  that  it  takes  a  sharp  eye 
to  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other.  Not 
setting  itself  in   array  against   the  truth,  but 


RECREATION  A  GOOD  THING.  25 

rather  avowing  a  sort  of  theoretic  belief  of  it, 
the  world,  after  all,  is  unchanged.  Its  eyes 
are  blind,  its  heart  is  hard,  and  its  aims  and 
motives  are  "of  the  earth  earthy,"  It  wishes 
to  walk  by  the  side  of  the  Church,  and  hand 
in  hand  with  it,  but  with  steady  pressure  it 
draws  in  the  direction  of  lax  morality.  Not 
having  received  the  heavenly  anointing,  it 
fails  to  see  how  "exceeding  broad"  the  Divine 
Law  is.  It  is  constantly  pleading  for  a  larger 
license,  a  wider  range  of  sensuous  enjoyments 
than  is  consistent  with  the  true  piety  which 
transforms  and  saves.  Thus  it  clings  to  the 
Church,  arguing,  inviting,  urging;  and  wher- 
ever to  its  own  dull  vision  the  path  ceases  to 
be  clear,  it  sweeps  off  swiftly  and  invariably 
into  the  realms  of  darkness  and  danger. 

And  the  Church,  too,  is  not  in  haste  to 
separate  itself  wholly  from  the  large  class 
found  just  outside  the  line  of  strict  religious 
profession.  We  admire  their  intelligence  and 
amiability,  their  many  worthy  traits  of  char- 


26  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

acter  and  conduct.  Their  companionship  is 
pleasant,  and  we  would  like  to  retain  it,  and, 
therefore,  we  are  strongly  tempted,  for  the 
sake  of  it,  to  make  concessions  on  the  various 
moral  questions  in  debate  between  us  and 
them.  Another  influence  is  silently  and  yet 
powerfully  at  work.  Unless  we  consent  that 
they  shall  marry  in  the  Chinese  style — with- 
out having  previously  exchanged  a  word  or 
even  seen  each  other's  faces — our  young  peo- 
ple must  have  opportunities  to  get  acquainted 
and  form  attachments.  In  making  their  se- 
lections they  like  to  take  a  wide  range  of 
observation.  A  deal  of  skirmishing  gener- 
ally precedes  the  final  conquest.  The  young 
Church-member  does  not  feel  inclined  to  re- 
fuse the  acquaintance  of  moral,  intelligent, 
agreeable  young  people  simply  on  the  ground 
that  they  are  not  professors  of  religion.  The 
youn'g  people  of  the  world  see  that  if  they  do 
not  keep  near  the  Church  they  cut  themselves 
off  from  the  best  portions  of  society.     With- 


RECREATION  A  GOOD  THING.  2/ 

out  violence  no  rigid  lines  of  social  separation 
can  be  drawn  between  the  Church  and  the 
general  community.  The  two  parties  hold  to 
each  other,  each  inviting,  pleading,  trying  to 
draw  the  other  in  its  own  direction,  in  the 
path  of  its  own  principles  and  tendencies. 
The  one  is  ready  to  yield  all  that  can  be  con- 
ceded without  an  abandonment  of  truth  and 
duty;  the  other,  like  Herod  under  the  influ- 
ence of  John's  preaching,  fears,  and  listens, 
and  does  "many  things." 

Nor  is  it  clear  that  utter  separation  is  de- 
sirable. We  can  be  instrumental  in  saving 
only  those  who  are  within  our  reach.  How 
shall  we  bring  others  within  the  range  of  our 
influence,  and  at  the  same  time  keep  wholly 
beyond  the  range  of  theirs.-*  How  shall  we 
lift  up  others  and  yet  not  feel  their  weight  .^^ 
If  we  drive  from  us  all  who  have  failed  thus 
far  to  come  up  to  our  standard,  we  lessen 
the  area  of  our  usefulness — we  throw  away 
precious     opportunities    to    do    good.      The 


28  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

Church,  if  faithful,  is  not  imperiled  by  this 
antagonism  of  moral  forces.  It  must  show 
itself  the  more  powerful  of  the  two,  and 
"overcome  the  world."  Surely,  if  truth  is 
strong,  if  fixed  principles  of  action  furnish  a 
solid  fulcrum  on  which  to  place  our  levers, 
we  ought  to  move  the  world,  and  not  the 
world  us. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  if  the  young  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  and  the  young  people  just 
outside  the  line  of  religious  profession,  are  to 
unite  in  social  gatherings  and  recreations, 
duty  demands  that  we  stand  firm,  while  cour- 
tesy and  reason,  to  say  nothing  of  still  higher 
motives,  require  that  others  yield.  No  la- 
bored argument  is  needed  to  show  this.  The 
lover  of  frivolous  pleasures  can  not  plead  that 
religious  convictions  impel  him  to  his  foUies. 
When  youthful  Christians  fear  and  resist, 
saying,  "Conscience  forbids,"  he  can  not  re- 
ply, ''My  conscience  commands."  When  the 
Christian   remonstrates,   saying,   "To  do   this 


RECREATION  A  GOOD  THING,  29 

might  imperil  my  soul,"  the  other  can  not 
answer,  ''Not  to  do  it  would  imperil  mine." 
The  worldly  can  only  plead  that  they  see  no 
evil  where  others  see  it,  and  that  they  are 
ready  to  venture  where  others  fear  to  go. 
Thus  they  virtually  confess  that  they  are  dull 
in  vision  and  hard  in  heart. 

And  so  we  can  not  come  down  to  the  level 
to  which  they  would  invite  us.  If  they  desire 
us  to  meet  on  common  ground,  we  must  be 
permitted  to  select  the  place.  If  we  yield 
to  them,  we  sacrifice  our  principles  and  our 
peace.  If  they  yield  to  us,  they  lose,  at  the 
utmost,  only  a  little  temporary  pleasure.  Let 
the  worldly  and  the  gay,  therefore,  say  no 
more  about  our  Puritanic  notions.  They  see, 
and  ought  to  confess,  that  almost  of  necessity 
they  tend  to  place  the  standard  of  morals  too 
low,  and  that  when  the  Church  and  the  world 
differ  in  regard  to  what  is  allowable  and  right, 
there  are  a  thousand  cTiances  to  one  that  the 
Church  is  right  and  the  world  is  wrong.     If 


30  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

the  religion  of  Christ  laid.no  restrictions  on 
us  which  the  trifling  mind  and  the  unrenewed 
heart  felt  to  be  unwelcome,  or  even  burden- 
some, we  might  well  suspect  that  it  was  the 
invention  of  men. 


CHAPTER    II. 
TRUE    RECREATION. 

"And  let  them  ftieasiire  the  pattern.''^    E2ekiel  xliii,  lo. 

WHAT  amusements,  then,  are  rational 
and  allowable?  and  to  what  extent 
may  we  indulge  in  them  ?  We  desire,  before 
we  discuss  specific  modes  of  recreation,  to  lay 
down  certain  general  principles,  and  indicate 
what  we  believe  to  be  the  true  method  of 
reasoning  on  the  subject,  so  that  the  reader, 
keeping  these  in  mind,  will  see  why  we  ap- 
prove or  condemn  hereafter,  even  when,  for 
the  sake  of  brevity,  the  conclusion  is  given 
in  few  words. 

First  of  all,  then,  we  inquire.  What  is  the 

true  design  of  recreation?     The  mere  pleas- 

31 


32  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

ure  of  the  hour  is  certainly  not  the  sole  ob- 
ject at  which  we  should  aim,  regardless  of 
all  other  considerations.  A  degree  of  enjoy- 
ment may  be  desirable;  and  yet  the  tempo- 
rary pleasure  is  not  all.  The  true  idea  of 
rational  recreation  is  expressed  in  the  very 
name.  The  aim  is  to  renew,  restore,  create 
again.  It  is  to  lay  aside  the  more  serious 
avocations  of  life  for  a  brief  space,  that  we 
may  resume  them  with  new  vigor.  It  is  to 
make  a  little  truce  with  toil  and  care,  that 
we  may  return  to  the  battle  with  stouter 
hearts  and  keener  weapons.  We  rest,  that 
we  may  be  the  better  prepared  for  work. 
Rational  recreation  never  loses  sight  of  duty. 
It  teaches  us  to  seek,  now  and  then,  a  little 
leisure,  that  we  may  be  able  to  labor  the 
harder  and  the  longer ;  to  be  gay  and  merry, 
only  that  we  may  be  the  more  susceptible,  in 
its  time,  of  all  solemn,  holy  emotion.  Recrea- 
tion, in  the  true  sense  of  the  term,  is  not  only 
free  from  evil,  but  it  is  full  of  good  intents, 


TRUE  RECREATION.  33 

aiming,  above  all,  to  aid  us  in  the  great  con- 
cerns which  look  beyond  the  horizon  of  the 
present  life.  We  shake  off  care,  but  not  con- 
science. We  do  not  lay  aside  the  service  of 
God  and  take  a  day  to  ourselves,  but  strive 
to  win  the  benediction  pronounced  upon  "the 
man  that  feareth  always." 

To  make  the  discussion  as  practical  as  pos- 
sible, we  name  eight  different  points  of  view 
from  which  we  may  consider  any  diversion 
proposed  to  us: 

I.  Our  recreations  sJiould  be  imtocent  in 
themselves. 

Compared  with  eternal  interests,  present 
enjoyment  is  as  dust  in  the  balance.  How- 
ever exhilarating  or  beneficial  to  health  the 
advocates  of  any  amusement  may  claim  that 
their  favorite  diversion  is,  if  there  be  an  el- 
ement of  wrong  in  it,  it  must  be  condemned 
without  hesitation  or  reserve.  If  it  involves 
any  transgression  of  Divine  law;  if  it  leads 
us  to  disregard  the  welfare  of  our  fellow;  if 
3 


34  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

the  pleasure  is  purchased  by  pain  wantonly 
inflicted  upon  man,  or  beast,  or  bird,  or  in- 
sect ;  if  it  tends  to  render  us  frivolous  or 
reckless,  or  in  any  way  leaves  us  farther  from 
God  and  heaven,  less  conscientious,  less  de- 
votional, less  tender  in  heart,  less  active  and 
earnest  in  all  good  works,  we  must  condemn 
it,  no  matter  how  fascinating  it  may  be,  no 
matter  what  may  be  the  numbers  or  the 
social  position  of  those  who  favor  it.  Of  all 
the  poor  excuses  for  sin,  one  of  the  poorest 
and  meanest  is  the  plea  that  we  trampled  on 
the  law  of  God  and  defied  his  justice  for  the 
sake  of  amusement. 

2.  Our  rec7'eations  mtLst  never  be  suffered  to 
lessen  our  influence  as  followers  of  Christ. 

A  good  name  is  an  element  of  strength. 
Unless  those  around  us  have  confidence  in 
our  sincerity,  we  are  shorn  of  our  moral 
power.  No  matter  how  clear  our  integrity 
may  be  in  our  own  eyes,  if  we  fail  to  con- 
vince the  world  of  it ;   if  we  seem  to  be  less 


TRUE  RECREATION,  35 

careful  of  obligation,  less  mindful  of  the  right 
than  Christians  should  be,  there  will  be  a 
cloud  of  distrust  hovering  about  us  wherever 
we  are,  and  we  will  find  ourselves  shut  out 
of  some  of  the  noblest  fields  of  effort.  The 
world  watches  our  recreations  as  well  as  our 
more  weighty  employments.  We  need  -not, 
indeed,  be  governed  always  by  the  reproaches 
of  the  censorious  and  the  complaints  of  the 
morose;  still,  it  is  never  safe  to  be  indiiferent 
to  popular  opinion.  Even  where  we  discover 
no  evident  wrong,  we  should  not,  for  the  sake 
of  mere  momentary  pleasure,  give  ourselves 
to  any  pursuit  which  bears  a  specious  name 
or  is  surrounded  by  doubtful  associations. 
Even  in  Christian  communities  public  opin- 
ion does  not  tend  to  be  fanatically  rigid,  and 
we  may  be  sure  that  what  it  condemns  we 
will  find  it  safe  to  avoid. 

Nor  should  our  recreations  ever  be  of  such 
a  character  as  to  wound  our  fellow-Christians. 
It  is  true,  you  need  not  always  be  controlled 


36  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

by  the  views  of  this  or  that  member  of  the 
Church,  who,  perhaps,  does  not  abound  in  the 
intelHgence  and  wisdom  which  give  weight  to 
opinion.  But  what  does  your  pastor  think? 
If  you  and  he  differ,  who  is  probably  right  ? 
Look  about  you.  See  who  they  are  in  your 
community  who  are  universally  acknowledged 
as  the  real  disciples  of  Christ,  by  whose  ag- 
gregate good  name  the  Church  stands  in  rep- 
utation. What  do  they  think.!*  Where  they 
doubt,  you  may  well  hesitate.  Even  if  they 
should  seem  needlessly  scrupulous,  you  may 
be  sure  of  one  thing — you  will  not  find  it 
dangerous  to  follow  their  counsel. 

And  you  have  no  right  to  treat  their  admo- 
nitions with  indifference.  You  can  not,  with- 
out peril,  go  counter  to  their  views  of  duty. 
Whatever  may  be  the  abstract  right  or  wrong 
of  the  thing  in  question,  this  evil  effect,  at 
least,  will  follow  your  rejection  of  their  ad- 
vice: you  will  separate  yourselves  from  your 
pious    exemplars    and    guides ;    the    chasm, 


TR  UE  RECREA  TION.  3  7 

however  narrow  at  first,  will  widen  with  time ; 
the  society  of  your  fellow-Christians  will  lose 
its  charm ;  the  social  forces  which  helped, 
more  than  you  are  aware  of,  to  hold  you  to 
your  duty  will  lose  their  power;  the  Tempter 
will  excite  in  your  heart  now  anger  at  others, 
now  doubts  of  yourself,  and  the  process,  un- 
less arrested,  will  end  in  spiritual  wreck  and 
ruin. 

3.  Otir  recreations  should  7iever  be  so  chosen 
or  so  pursued  as  to  interfere  with  the  full 
and  faithful  performaftce  of  the  sober  duties  of 
life. 

Childhood  and  youth  are  not,  as  some 
fancy,  a  period  of  mere  waiting,  a  sort  of 
play  spell  before  school  begins.  In  regard  to 
the  success  of  after  life,  it  is  the  hour  of 
precious  opportunities  which  come  but  once. 
It  is  the  foundation  upon  which  the  whole 
future  edifice  is  to  rest. 

If  a  child  should  never  learn  the  things 
which  an  infant  one  year  old  usually  knows, 


S8  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

he  would  grow  up  in  a  state  of  idiocy.  In 
their  very  plays,  as  we  term  them,  children 
investigate  the  properties  of  matter,  acquire 
ease  and  skill  in  managing  the  bones  and 
muscles  of  their  own  frames,  and  learn  the 
contents  of  the  great  world,  which  is  all  so 
new  to  them.  Youth  has  its  work,  and  all 
after  excellence  is  connected  with  the  indus- 
try and  care  with  which  that  work  is  done. 
The  mind  is  to  be  cultured,  the  reason  exer- 
cised, the  fancy  curbed,  the  memory  stored 
with  treasure,  the  whole  intellect  disciplined 
and  prepared  for  continuous,  patient  labor. 
In  youth  the  avocation  is  to  be  chosen,  the 
great  problems  of  time  and  eternity  revolved, 
and  the  solemn  journey  begun.  He  that 
would  be  wise  must  not  dream  away  the 
golden  hours  in  empty  visions  of  what  he 
would  like  to  be,  but  rouse  himself  and  pre- 
pare to  encounter  soberly  the  great  duties 
before  him.  He  has  not  a  moment  to  lose. 
He  must  look  and  listen,  read  and  remember ; 


TRUE  RECREATION,  39 

he  must  reflect,  and  reason,  and  judge;  he 
must  will  and  do  wisely  and  well,  and  every 
day  gather  strength  for  other  days  to  come. 

If,  therefore,  diversions  are  of  such  a  na- 
ture, or  are  so  pursued  as  to  induce  an  idle, 
dreamy,  inconstant  frame  of  mind,  making  it 
an  annoyance  and  a  burden  to  be  summoned 
to  real  work  in  careful  thinking  or  patient 
doing,  a  resolute  grapple  with  the  plain  re- 
sponsibilities *  of  ordinary  life,  something  is 
wrong.  When  the  imagination  has  outgrown 
the  judgment,  and  the  mind  revolts  at  reality 
and  delights  to  dwell  in  the  realms  of  fancy, 
building  destinies  out  of  airy  nothing,  we  can 
see  foreshadowed,  as  we  look  into  the  future, 
only  bitter  disappointment  and  failure. 

4.   Our  recreations  must  promote  health. 

Health  is  the  material  of  which  efficient 
life  is  made.  They  who  squander  it  cut  short 
the  day  which  God  assigned  them,  cloud  it 
with  weakness  and  pain,  and  lessen  the  prac- 
tical results   of  living.     To  do   this  willfully, 


40  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

deliberately,  in  the  chase  after  mere  pleasure, 
is  not  a  small  sin.  Our  Creator  requires  of 
us  the  wise  and  faithful  use  of  the  various 
elements  of  activity  and  power  with  which  he 
has  endowed  us.  If,  then,  the  hours  spent  in 
what  we  call  diversion  be  followed  by  exhaust- 
ion ;  if  the  evening  of  mirth  be  succeeded  by 
a  day  in  which  the  brow  is  clouded,  the  frame 
languid,  the  mind  irritable,  the  whole  being 
disordered,  there  has  been  something  wrong, 
either  in  the  nature  of  the  amusement  or  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  pursued.  To  be  well 
and  strong,  if  we  may,  is  our  duty.  Our  rec- 
reations should  not  lessen  but  increase  our 
power  to  will  and  to  do.  They  are  designed 
to  sharpen  the  tools  with  which  we  work,  and 
if  the  process  which  we  adopt  mars  the  blade 
our  methods  are  bad.  The  value  of  the  mode 
is  to  be  estimated  not  merely  by  the  present 
pleasure,  but  by  the  power,  gained  by  it.  If 
the  mower  in  the  meadow  is  enchanted  with 
the    rattling,   ringing  music   which   accompa- 


TRUE  RECREATION.  4I 

nies  the  whetting  of  the  scythe,  but  at  each 
repetition  finds  the  edge  duller  than  before, 
till  finally  he  can  not  cut  the  grass  at  all, 
he  might  as  well  be  standing  among  those 
whom  "no  man  hath  hired." 

5.  Our  recreations  should  not  be  unduly  ex- 
pe?zsive. 

Money  is  power.  It  may  be  made  to  feed 
the  hungry  and  clothe  the  naked.  It  may 
be  employed  in  teaching  the  ignorant  and 
reclaiming  those  that  wander.  It  plays  an 
important  part  in  all  good  works.  He  that 
squanders  money  throws  away  the  ability  to 
do  good.  He  "wastes  his  Lord's  substance." 
In  Christ's  description  of  the  day  of  Judg- 
ment, the  stress  is  laid,  not  upon  names,  pro- 
fessions, and  beliefs,  but  the  tangible  fruits 
of  piety.  We  must  beware,  therefore,  lest 
our  self-indulgences  tax  our  purse  too  heav- 
ily, and  leave  too  little  for  good  deeds.  The 
hour  is  not  far  distant  when  the  memory  of 
one  kind  act  will  be  to  us  the  source  of  more 


42  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

pleasure  than  the  recollection  of  all  the  selfish 
joys  of  a  life-time.  It  is  to  be  feared  that 
some  professors  of  religion,  who  lack  neither 
opportunities  nor  means  to  do  much,  will 
make  rather  a  poor  showing  at  the  last  great 
day. 

6.  Recreation  should  never  lose  sight  of  the 
value  of  time. 

Time  is  one  of  God's  most  precious  gifts. 
It  is  the  material  of  which  life  is  made,  the 
field  in  which  eternal  destinies  germinate,  the 
Summer  in  which  divine  things  grow.  We 
have  no  more  right  to  lay  plans  to  "kill  time" 
than  to  kill  ourselves.  The  suicide  rebels 
against  the  duties  assigned  him  by  Provi- 
dence, deserts  his  post,  and  throws  from  him 
the  years  otherwise  allotted  him.  The  aim- 
less, idle  soul,  without  a  purpose  or  a  plan, 
whom  no  incentive  can  stir,  and  to  whom  life 
is  a  weariness,  because  there  seems  nothing 
for  which  to  live,  commits  a  daily  suicide. 
Wealth  is  no  excuse  for  uselessness.     When 


TRUE  RECREATION.  43 

children  play  all  their  lives  because  their 
fathers  worked  hard  from  youth  to  old  age, 
they  take  rather  a  doubtful  way  to  honor 
their  parents.  If  a  man  has  no  sober  aim  in 
life,  no  worthy  object  for  which  he  is  stirring, 
God  will  not  hold  him  guiltless.  Genuine 
recreation  harmonizes  with  all  high  and  holy 
enterprise.  It  does  not  make  us  drones,  liv- 
ing upon  the  stores  which  the  working  bees 
of  the  hive  have  accumulated,  but  teaches  us, 
like  the  son  of  Saul,  weary  and  faint  in  the 
rapid  pursuit  of  the  foes  of  Israel,  to  stop  for 
a  moment  to  taste  the  honey  dripping  in  the 
forest,  that  our  "eyes  may  brighten,"  and  we 
press  on  with  swifter  feet.  Genuine  recrea- 
tion wastes  no  time,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
treasures  up  the  golden  moments  with  a  mi- 
ser's care.  Diversions  indulged  in  beyond 
measure  cease,  therefore,  to  be  recreations, 
and  become  a  criminal  waste  of  God's  pre- 
cious gift. 

7.  Our  recreations  ought  to  improve  the  mind. 


44  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

They  should  not,  indeed,  burden  the  mental 
powers;  nevertheless,  they  ought  not  to  be 
childish  and  without  meaning.  There  should 
always  be  enough  of  thought  involved  to  keep 
the  mind  pleasantly  and  not  unprofitably  occu- 
pied. For  this  reason  recreation  is  best  pur- 
sued not  alone,  but  socially.  Cheerful,  intel- 
ligent conversation  is  itself  one  of  the  best  of 
recreations.  The  heart  is  improved,  the  mind 
is  roused  into  new  vigor  and  fruitfulness,  the 
thoughts  are  wrested  away  from  toil  and  care, 
and  smiles  break  through  the  gloom  like  sun- 
shine bursting  through  the  rifted  clouds. 

8.  Our  recreations  should  be  productive  of 
genuine  enjoyment. 

The  very  idea  of  recreation  includes  that 
of  pleasure.  If  it  leaves  us  sad  or  dull  it 
fails  of  its  true  aim.  It  ought  to  make  the 
eye  bright  and  the  cheek  glow.  It  should 
have  an  affinity  for  smiles,  and  pleasant  words, 
and  mirthful  thoughts  which  glance  like  the 
play  of  the  northern  Aurora  when   the  night 


TRUE  RECREATION.  45 

is  cloudless.  It  should  leave  memories  in 
which  there  is  no  tinge  of  shame  or  regret. 
We  attach  importance  to  the  innocent  pleas- 
ure of  the  moment,  because  the  benefit  is 
derived  in  no  small  degree  from  the  mind's 
release  from  its  burdens.  A  company  of 
school-girls,  silent  and  prim,  taking  their 
daily  march  with  the  mechanical  accuracy 
of  soldiers,  lose  half  the  value  of  the  air  and 
exercise.  The  merchant  gains  little  who  goes 
on  a  solitary  fishing  excursion,  and  sits  gaz- 
ing at  vacancy,  with  his  brain  full  of  invoices 
and  sales,  units  and  tens,  while  the  fish  run 
away  with  his  line.  Let  the  young  and  the 
old  seek  suitable  recreation  and  enjoy  it,  in  a 
genial,  happy,  mirthful  spirit.  Innocent  mirth 
is  neither  unchristian  nor  undignified.  If  a 
man  can  not  laugh,  there  is  something  the 
matter  with  him.  Either  his  morals  or  his 
liver  is  disordered.  He  needs  either  repent- 
ance or  pills.  Some  of  earth's  greatest  and 
purest  men  have  been  noted  for  their  mirth- 


46  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

ful  tendencies.  Socrates  often  amused  him- 
self in  play  with  children.  Luther  loved  dogs, 
and  birds,  and  wit,  and  laughter,  and  by  his 
rousing  peals  kept  his  lungs  in  good  order  for 
his  theological  wars.  Thomas  Walsh,  one  of 
the  best,  but  not  the  most  hilarious  of  men, 
complained  that  John  Wesley's  wit  and  humor 
made  him  laugh  more  than  his  conscience  ap- 
proved ;  but  Mr.  Walsh  died  in  his  youth, 
while  Mr.  Wesley  filled  up  the  measure  of 
eighty-eight  busy,  happy  years. 

These  are  some  of  the  principles  which  un- 
derlie the  subject  before  us.  It  now  remains 
to  apply  these  principles  to  specific  plans  and 
methods  of  recreation.  In  the  scales  thus 
constructed  let  us  proceed  to  weigh  the  vari- 
ous diversions  and  amusements  which  claim 
our  suffrages.  We  will  look  first  at  the  more 
public  and  pretentious  of  these  candidates  for 
our  approval. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE   THEATER. 

**  Can  a  man  take  fire  in  his  bosom  and  his  clothes  not  be 
bitrned?''^     Prov.  vii,  27. 

THE  theater  has  its  apologists  and  advo- 
cates. It  is  said  to  be  a  good  place 
to  learn  history,  human  nature,  and  all  that. 
Some  plays  are  declared  to  be  "as  good  as  a 
sermon."  Assuming  this  to  be  true,  it  might 
not  be  out  of  place  to  inquire  how  often  these 
good  plays  are  performed,  and  how  they 
"draw."  What  proportion  does  this  good 
sort  bear  to  the  general  mass  of  plays  nightly 
set  before  the  public }  Questions  multiply  as 
we   consider    the    subject.      If   plays    are   as 

good   as   sermons,   how   happens  it  that,  as  a 

47 


48  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS, 

rule,  those  who  admire  plays  have  no  love 
for  sermons?  Moreover,  if  the  theater  is  a 
preacher  of  righteousness,  or  essays  to  be 
such,  where  are  the  "gifts,  grace,  and  use- 
fulness "  which  are  the  evidences  of  its  call 
to  the  good  work?  There  may  be  no  special 
lack  of  a  certain  kind  of  gifts,  but  where  is 
the  grace?  Does  it  adorn  the  character  and 
conduct  of  the  performers?  Unless  these  as 
a  class  have  been  grievously  slandered  for 
two  thousand  years,  we  must  look  elsewhere. 
And  where  is  the  proof  of  moral  and  religious 
usefulness?  It  has  no  existence.  The  fact 
is,  to  plead  for  the  theater  on  the  ground  that 
its  moral  influence  is  good,  is  to  act  a  big- 
ger farce  than  was  ever  put  upon  the  stage. 
When  a  young  man,  who  has  been  religiously 
trained,  begins  to  frequent  the  theater,  quiet 
observers  see  that  he  has  taken  the  first  step 
of  a  downward  course ;  and  if  connected  with 
him  in  business  relations,  or  otherwise,  they 
govern     themselves     accordingly.      When    a 


THE  THEATER.  49 

young  man,  whose  reputation  has  suffered  by 
his  wild  and  reckless  conduct,  ceases  to  at- 
tend the  play  and  begins  to  attend  Church, 
his  true  friends  begin  to  have  hope  in  regard 
to  him.  All  who  have  in  any  degree  looked 
into  the  matter,  know  that  the  disreputable 
and  the  vile  shun  the  Church,  and  crowd  to 
the  theater,  while  many  who  are  plying  foul 
trades  depend  upon  the  play-house,  not  only 
to  bring  the  victim  within  their  reach,  but  to 
undermine  his  virtue,  lull  his  caution  to  sleep, 
and  prepare  him  to  fall  in  the  net  spread  for 
him.  Build  a  theater  where  you  will,  and 
straightway  drinking  saloons,  gambling  dens, 
and  brothels  spring  up  all  about  it  and  flour- 
ish under  its  shadow.  All  manner  of  vice, 
and  villainy,  and  shame  grows  green  and  rank 
in  the  polluted  soil  which  it  creates. 

Some  years  ago,  the  owners  of  a  certain 
theater  in  one  of  our  great  cities,  resolving  to 
conduct  it  in  a  "respectable"  way,  attempted 
to  shut  out,  as  far  as  practicable,  all  whose 


50  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

vocation  was  infamous.  This  they  thought 
would  be  easily  effected  by  refusing  admit- 
tance to  every  "lady  not  accompanied  by  a 
gentleman."  This  simple  measure  accom- 
plished all  that  was  expected  of  it,  and  a 
great  deal  more.  The  class  aimed  at  were 
indeed  excluded ;  but,  alas  for  the  proprie- 
tors !  the  consequent  loss  of  patronage  was  so 
great  that  the  estabhshment  no  longer  paid 
current  expenses,  and  the  owners  found  them- 
selves compelled  either  to  close  their  doors 
altogether  or  open  them  to  the  cattle  that 
herd  in  the  upper  galleries.  The  fact  is  plain 
to  all  who  are  willing  to  see,  that  the  theater 
thrives  by  the  vice  and  crime  of  the  commu- 
nity. It  is  a  buzzard  that  lives  on  carrion. 
To  succeed  it  must  be  content  to  be  the 
hunting-ground  where  infamy  shall  snare  its 
victims,  and  lead  them  "as  an  ox  to  the 
slaughter."  More  than  this,  the  perform- 
ances and  the  whole  arrangement  must  be 
adapted  to  the  low  moral  level  of  an  audience 


THE  THEATER.  51 

gathered  up  from  the  particular  quarters  where 
alone  patrons  can  be  found  in  sufficient  num- 
bers to  make  the  play-house  a  paying  institu- 
tion. A  successful  theater  must  be  on  good 
terms  with  the  grogshop  and  the  brothel. 

The  whole  thing  is  one  of  strategy  and  cal- 
culation. As  the  skillful  angler  puts  on  his 
hooks  the  bait  at  which  the  fish  will  bite 
most  eagerly — no  matter  what  it  is,  worm  or 
bug,  or  artificial  fly — so  the  crafty  manager 
of  a  theater  surveys  society,  and  considers 
what  plays,  what  style  of  acting,  what  style 
of  dress  among  the  actors  and  actresses  will 
most  surely  attract  the  crowd.  He  is  aware 
that  the  really  religious  portion  of  the  com- 
munity regard  the  Church  and  the  theater  as 
antagonists,  and  look  upon  him  as  one  who  is 
laboring  to  undo  all  that  they  are  trying  to 
accomplish.  He  knows  that  many  people  of 
culture  and  high  social  position  regard  his 
profession  as  dishonorable  and  degrading. 
These  classes  he  leaves  out  of  his  calcula- 


52  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

tion,  because  they  are  beyond  his  reach.  But 
a  great  multitude  remain,  composed,  in  part, 
of  the  young  and  the  heedless,  fond  of  noise, 
and  show,  and  excitement,  and  in  part  of  the 
corrupt  and  the  vile,  the  hungry  beasts  and 
birds  of  prey,  who  want  victims.  Among 
these  he  must  find  his  patrons  and  his  prof- 
its. In  aiming  to  gather  them  into  his  fold, 
he  must  gratify  their  peculiar  taste.  He 
knows  that  he  can  please  tHem  only  by  keep- 
ing them  well  pleased  with  themselves.  Will 
he  do  this  by  means  of  plays  which,  from  the 
first  line  to  the  last,  brand  vice  as  infamous, 
and  exalt  virtue  and  honor.?  He  knows  his 
calling  better.  The  people  who  compose  his 
audiences  do  not  come  to  the  theater  to  be 
made  ashamed  of  themselves.  They  would 
not  listen  to  such  a  play,  but  would  go  out 
of  the  house,  in  the  midst  of  the  perform- 
ances, angrily  muttering  that  when  they  want 
a  sermon  they  will  go  to  the  Church  for  it. 
The    manager    must    set   forth    more   savory 


THE  THEATER.  53 

viands.  He  must  address  himself  to  empty 
minds  and  cater  to  animal  passions.  He  that 
undertakes  to  feed  a  flock  of  crows  need  not 
provide  either  the  manna  of  the  Scripture  or 
the  nectar  and  ambrosia  of  which  classic  fable 
tells. 

As  the  calculations  of  an  almanac  are  made 
for  the  particular  latitude  where  it  is  expected 
to  sell,  so  all  the  arrangements  and  appli- 
ances of  the  theater  are  carefully  adapted  to 
those  classes  of  society  which  are  low  both 
in  intelligence  and  in  morals.  Tragedy,  to 
be  popular,  must  not  only  deal  in  crime,  but 
in  loathsome,  nauseous  crime.  Popular  com- 
edy must  ridicule  religion,  and  show  how 
much  better  acute  and  crafty  villainy  is  than 
simple  truth  and  innocence.  Immodesty  is 
one  of  the  attractions  relied  upon  to  draw  the 
brutal  herd.  The  female  performers  on  the 
stage  must  expose  their  persons  in  a  style 
which  would  be  branded  as  grossly  indecent 
anywhere  else.     Let  a  fact  be  stated  in  illus- 


54  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS, 

tration.  One  of  the  high  officers  of  the  mu- 
nicipal government  of  London  recently  issued 
a  circular,  addressed  to  the  proprietors  and 
managers  of  the  various  theaters,  remonstrat- 
ing against  the  indecent  costumes  of  the 
stage,  and  urging  reform.  What  the  effect 
of  the  appeal  was  upon  the  parties  addressed 
does  not  appear;  but  an  actress  replied,  in 
one  of  the  public  journals,  declaring  that  she 
is  aware  of  all  that  the  circular  asserts,  but 
affirming  that  she  and  all  the  female  perform- 
ers are  powerless  in  the  case,  the  managers 
demanding  the  immodest  costume  as  one  of 
the  necessities  of  the  drama. 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  British  stage  is 
more  corrupting  and  immoral  than  the  Amer- 
ican. There  is  not  a  city  on  the  face  of  the 
globe  where  the  theater  can  live  unless  it 
goes  down  into  depths  of  infamy,  and  be- 
comes the  panderer  of  all  vice  and  shame. 
It  is  true  that  a  few,  whom  the  world  calls 
moral  and   respectable,  are   sometimes   found 


THE  THEATER.  55 

at  the  play-house,  but  they  are  so  few  that 
play-writers  and  stage  managers,  having  an 
eye  to  the  financial  receipts  and  successes, 
look  in  other  directions,  and  graduate  the 
plot,  and  the  sentiments,  and  the  scenes,  and, 
above  all,  the  costume  of  the  performers,  for 
a  lower  moral  level.  Not  seldom  is  the  play 
itself  a  weak,  unmeaning  thing,  which  is  in- 
tended to  serve  merely  as  a  pretext  for  the 
shameless  exhibitions  deemed  necessary  in  or- 
der to  fill  the  house. 

The  theater  will  never  be  reformed.  The 
truly  refined  despise  it,  the  wise  and  the 
good  abhor  it.  It  must  find  its  support 
among  the  thoughtless,  the  ignorant,  and  the 
vicious.     It  must  be  indecent  or  die. 

And  so  it  comes  to  this:  immodesty  is  a 
part  of  the  stock  in  trade  of  the  play-house. 
There  must  be  indecent  exposure,  else  the 
foul  crew  that  frequent  the  theater,  and  upon 
whose  patronage  it  lives,  will  care  nothing  for 
its   performances.     In   vain   is   the  genius  of 


56  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

poets  and  authors!  In  vain  are  all  the  tinsel 
glories  of  the  show!  Even  the  play  which  is 
"as  good  as  a  sermon"  will  be  a  failure,  and 
its  lofty  periods  be  declaimed  to  an  empty 
house,  unless  modesty  and  honor  are  sacri- 
ficed to  gratify  the  lowest  passions  of  the 
most  debased  of  human  kind.  Where  did 
any  evil  invention  of  man  ever  bear  upon  its 
front  the  stamp  of  infamy  in  plainer,  deeper 
lines  ? 

Why,  then,  should  those  who  believe  in 
virtue  sustain,  or  help  to  sustain,  that  which 
can  not  exist  at  all  except  in  alliance  with 
vice  and  shame?  How  can  those  who  be- 
lieve in  God  and  love  his  cause  aid  this  en- 
gine of  the  devil?  Do  they  know  how  valu- 
able their  help  is,  and  at  what  a  price  the 
engineers  are  willing  to  purchase  even  their 
silence?  When  the  infamous  classes  of  soci- 
ety find  themselves  the  only  occupants  of  the 
theater,  they  will  be  apt  to  abandon  it.  It 
will  not  then  serve  their  purpose.     Rats  can 


THE  THEATER. 


57 


not  live  in  an  empty  barn.  Thieves  can  not 
live  by  robbing  each  other.  The  seller  of 
alcohol  can  not  prosper  long  by  selling  to 
the  same  set  of  customers.  As  soon  as  the 
drunkard  has  lost  all,  his  very  presence  be- 
comes hateful  to  the  man  who  has  ruined 
him.  A  whisky-shop  resembles  a  college,  in 
that  it  needs  a  class  of  freshmen  to  replace 
every  class  that  graduate.  And  so  with  all 
forms  of  vice;  they  need  a  constant  supply 
of  new  victims.  When  one  set  of  unfortu- 
nates have  been  picked  to  the  bone  others 
must  be  had. 

And  thus  the  theater  is  a  valuable  aux- 
iliary to  certain  characters,  seeing  that  it 
brings  their  prey  within  their  reach.  How, 
then,  can  a  Christian  hesitate  one  moment  in 
regard  to  duty.?  By  what  blindness,  by  what 
mode  of  self-delusion,  can  virtuous  women 
be  induced  to  patronize  an  institution  which 
lives  on  the  ruins  of  virtue?  How  can  they 
sit    among    the    spectators,    and    look    upon 


58  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

wanton  exhibitions  and  shameless  exposures 
of  person,  such  as  would  anywhere  else  crim- 
son every  modest  cheek  with  shame  or  red- 
den it  with  the  consciousness  of  insult? 
How  can  they  sit  among  the  crowd,  while 
eager  eyes  are  looking  down  wolfishly  upon 
the  brother,  the  lover,  or  the  husband  who 
sits  by  their  side,  and  foul  hearts  are  won- 
dering whether  he  ever  comes  to  this  place 
alone,  and  whether  he  is  beyond  the  reach 
of  their  subtile  arts?  How  can  virtuous  wo- 
men consent  ever  to  set  foot  within  the  walls 
of  a  theater,  when  they  know  that  the  very 
air  is  thick  with  infamy  and  death,  and  when 
every  one  who  sees  them  there  knows  that 
they  know  it? 

There  is  an  old  story  to  this  effect:  An 
angel,  flying  on  some  errand  of  mercy,  met 
Satan,  who  was  dragging  away  a  monk,  clad 
in  full  canonicals.  The  angel  stopped  the 
adversary,  and  demanded  the  release  of  the 
prisoner,   saying  that  his  very  robes  showed 


THE  THEATER. 


59 


that  he  was  a  holy  man,  to  whom  Satan  could 
have  no  claim.  "But  he  is  mine,"  was  the 
emphatic  reply.  "I  found  him  on  my  prem- 
ises ;  I  caught  him  at  the  theater !" 

Even  heathen  moralists  and  philosophers 
have  condemned  the  stage  as  tending  to  cor- 
rupt public  morals.  This  was  the  ground 
taken  by  Plato,  Seneca,  and  Cicero,  two  thou- 
sand years  ago.  The  early  Christian  writers, 
the  fathers  of  the  Church,  denounced  the 
theater.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  piety  and 
intelligence  of  the  Church  have  always  con- 
demned it.  John  Wesley,  the  founder  of  our 
Church,  gave  his  judgment  in  no  equivocal 
terms:  "The  present  stage  entertainments 
not  only  sap  the  foundation  of  all  religion, 
but  tend  to  drinking  and  debauchery  of  every 
kind,  which  are  constant  attendants  on  these 
entertainments." 

Truly,  the  play-house  is  no  place  for  a  fol- 
lower of  Christ.  Like  the  Babylon  of  the 
Revelator,  it  is  "  tJie  hold  of  every  foul  spirit, 


60  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

and  a  cage  of  every  unclean  and  hateful  bird!' 
And  so  we  add  the  warning  uttered  by  ''an- 
other voice  from  heavenl'  ''Come  out  of  her,  my 
people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins,  and 
that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagnesT 

Even  if  the  plays  could  be  so  far  reformed 
as  not  directly  to  cater  to  the  vicious  and  the 
corrupt;  if  the  foul  birds  of  prey  that  perch 
aloft  could  be  driven  from  the  nests  which 
they  have  occupied  so  long,  still  the  theater 
would  not  be  a  good  place  of  resort  for  those 
who  feel  that  they  possess  immortal  souls. 
The  late  hours,  the  expense  of  time  and 
money,  the  character  of  the  general  audience, 
and  the  insensible  and  yet  powerful  effect  of 
contact  with  them ;  the  premature  develop- 
ment and  overgrowth  of  the  passions,  the 
distaste  created  for  the  quiet  pleasures  which 
are  safest  and  best  for  soul  and  body,  the 
rapidity  with  which  the  love  of  noise,  show, 
and  excitement  becomes  an  overmastering 
passion,  too  strong  to  be  controlled  by  duty, 


THE  THEATER.  6 1 

conscience,  parental  authority,  or  parental  re- 
monstrances and  tears,  conspire  to  render  at- 
tendance at  the  theater  ruinous  to  many  and 
dangerous  to  all.  Let  no  Christian  go  to  the 
play-house  even  once.  If  the  patronage  of 
those  who  go  but  once,  "just  to  see  how  it 
looks,"  could  be  wholly  withdrawn,  all  the 
theaters  would  feel  the  loss,  and  some  would 
be  compelled  to  close  their  doors.  Why 
should  you  make  even  one  contribution  to 
keep  in  motion  the  remorseless  jaws  which 
have  devoured  so  many  victims }  Why  should 
you  lend  your  example,  even  once,  to  encour- 
age the  inconsiderate  and  the  inexperienced 
to  form  the  habit  of  attending  the  theater? 
Why  consent  to  act,  even  once,  as  decoy 
duck,  to  lure  many,  it  may  be,  to  their  de- 
struction } 


CHAPTER    IV. 

HORSE-RACING. 

"A  fid  so  shall  be  the  plague  of  the  horse?''     Zech.  xiv,  15. 

THE  horse  is,  doubtless,  a  noble  beast ; 
but,  by  some  strange  fatality,  all  sorts 
of  thieves  and  cheats  gather  round  him  while 
living,  as  do  the  hungry  crows  when  he  is 
dead.  Horse-racing  may  claim  a  place  among 
popular  amusements,  since  there  is  probably 
nothing,  except  an  execution,  more  certain  to 
attract  a  crowd.  In  many  of  the  States  of 
the  Union  horse-racing  has  been  prohibited 
by  law,  because  of  the  numberless  evils  con- 
nected with  it,  and  the  total  absence  of  good. 
Within  a  few  years,  however,  the  thing  has 

been  revived  under  another  name.     State  and 

63 


64  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

county  fairs  are  now  held  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  agriculture,  and  specimens  of  various 
farm  products  are  exhibited  to  edify  the  nov- 
ice and  quicken  the  zeal  of  the  ambitious  cul- 
tivator. Horses,  of  course,  form  a  prominent 
feature  of  these  exhibitions.  But  a  horse 
can  only  be  half  seen  till  he  is  seen  in 
motion,  and  so  little  "trials  of  speed,"  as  they 
were  delicately  termed,  were  given  just  to 
add  a  little  interest  to  the  show.  These  trials 
of  speed  usurped  more  and  more  time  and 
space,  until  they  have  in  many  cases  swal- 
lowed up  every  thing  else,  and  brought  back 
the  old-style  horse-race,  with  its  crowds,  ex- 
citement, villainy,  and  vice  of  every  kind,  and, 
in  fact,  every  thing  but  the  name.  An  "Agri- 
cultural Fair"  now  means  a  plow,  a  pumpkin, 
a  pig,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  trotting 
horses.  These  fairs  are  almost  invariably  con- 
ducted with  especial  reference  to  the  racing, 
and  not  unfrequently  are  engineered  wholly 
by  the  jockeys  themselves. 


HORSE-RACING,  65 

It  will  hardly  do  for  us  to  adopt  the  sneer- 
ing philosophy  of  Democritus,  and  find  noth- 
ing but  matter  of  merriment  in  the  sins  and 
follies  of  our  fellow-men ;  nevertheless,  these 
annual  country  gatherings  have  a  comic  side 
which  one  must  be  very  blind  not  to  see. 
The  first  note  of  preparation  is  the  posting 
of  immense  placards,  printed  in  as  many 
colors  as  ever  Joseph's  coat  knew,  and  offer- 
ing premiums — ten  cents  for  the  best  plow, 
five  cents  for  the  biggest  pumpkin,  twenty 
cents  for  the  fattest  pig,  and  one  thousand 
dollars  for  the  horse  that  can  trot  around  a 
certain  circle  in  the  shortest  time.  Every 
gawky  boy  who  rejoices  in  the  possession  of 
a  long-legged  colt,  reads  the  flaming  procla- 
mation with  delight,  and  straightway  redoubles 
his  diligence  in  training  his  colt  and  himself 
for  the  grand  occasion.  When  the  eventful 
day  comes  he  presents  himself  on  the  spot, 
sure  of  winning  the  prize,  and  of  seeing  his 
name  exalted  in  the  county  paper  next  week. 


66  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

He  finds  nineteen  other  gawky  individuals 
there  with,  nineteen  other  colts  and  the 
same  ambitious  expectations.  When  they 
have  paid  their  proportion  of  the  money 
which  is  to  become  the  prize,  and  have  en- 
tered in  a  book  the  names  of  their  horses — 
names,  by  the  way,  to  devise  which  has  cost 
n^any  severe  mental  efforts — a  strange  man 
writes  the  name  of  a  horse  never  before  heard 
of  in  that  locality.  The  contest  proceeds. 
The  strange  man,  who  had  been  so  still  and 
taciturn  up  to  this  moment,  suddenly  dis- 
closes amazing  energy,  and  shows  himself  an 
adept  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  important 
business  in  hand.  He  knows  tricks  that  make 
the  astonished  rustics  open  their  eyes  wide 
with  admiration  and  dismay.  He  confuses  his 
competitors  with  his  bewildering  maneuvers, 
secures  every  advantage,  and  urges  on  his 
own  nag  with  a  clamor  and  an  uproar  which 
drive  the  others  into  unlawful  paces,  or  make 
t:hem    bolt    from    the    track    altogether.     In 


HORSE-RACING,  67 

short,  science  distances  unsophisticated  na- 
ture. The  strange  man  and  the  strange  horse 
sweep  around  the  circle  and  rush  to  the  goal 
in  triumph,  while  the  twenty  are  seen  strug- 
gling far  in  the  rear,  a  miserable  conglomer- 
ate of  dust,  disappointment,  and  profanity. 
Meanwhile,  the  half-dozen  secret  confederates 
of  the  successful  jockey  have  been  quietly 
mingling  with  the  crowd,  betting  with  all  who 
were  willing  to  risk  their  money,  and,  of 
course,  winning  every  time.  Thus  the  con- 
course divide  into  three  classes,  like  the  notes 
in  music ;  the  naturals  stare,  the  fiats  are 
fleeced,  the  sharps  win.  The  performance 
being  over,  the  professionals  joyfully  divide 
the  spoil,  praising  with  infinite  glee  "  the  way 
it  was  done,"  and  venting  their  irrepressible 
hilarity  in  stentorian  laughter  and  clumsy 
imitations  of  Indian  war-dances. 

The  victims  return  home,  the  wiser  ones 
satisfied  with  their  recent  experience,  and 
determined   to   sell   their   sulkies   and    break 


6S  POPULAR  AMUSEMEIVTS, 

their  horses  to  the  plow.  The  fools,  on  the 
other  hand,  are  sure  that  now  they  know  all 
about  it.  They  have  seen  a  professor  of  high 
art,  and  burn  with  ambition  to  be  like  him. 
They  buy  little  caps  of  the  same  pattern, 
stick  their  hands  in  their  pockets  as  nearly  as 
possible  in  his  style,  and  converse  only  in  the 
phrases  current  in  the  stable.  Their  man- 
ners, as  well  as  their  clothes,  smell  strong  of 
the  horse.  They  devote  their  whole  minds 
to  the  cause.  They  know  more  about  the 
last  race  than  the  last  war,  and  are  more 
familiar  with  the  names  of  fast  trotters  than 
with  those  of  our  great  statesmen  and  gener- 
als. They  can  explain  the  pedigree  of  some 
favorite  nag  in  a  more  satisfactory  manner 
than  they  can  their  own,  and  take  more  pride 
in  it.  The  tavern  is  the  school  where  they 
pursue  their  professional  studies,  and  the 
sages  of  the  bar-room  and  the  philosophers 
of  the  barn  are  their  instructors.  In  some 
cases   idleness,  low  company,  and  drink  pro- 


HORSE-RACING.  69 

duce  their  natural  fruit;  the  property  inher- 
ited from  the  dead  or  dishonestly  obtained 
from  the  living  is  soon  squandered,  the  vic- 
tim graduates  as  hostler,  and,  like  some  dev- 
otee of  olden  time,  consecrates  himself,  soul 
and  body,  to  the  service  of  the  brute  which 
he  admires.  In  others,  the  aspirant  really 
reaches  the  high  eminence  at  which  he  aims, 
and  becomes  a  first-class  cheat,  learned  in 
horse-craft  and  equally  wise  in  the  art  of 
deceiving  men — a  restless  operator  in  his 
chosen  line  of  business,  whose  advent  in  a 
neighborhood  is  a  signal  for  all  to  be  on 
their  guard,  and  at  whose  departure  people 
breathe  more  freely. 

The  "Sports  of  the  Turf,"  as  they  are 
called,  are  a  mere  compound  of  fraud  and 
folly.  Betting  is  the  soul  of  horse-racing,  and 
a  thievish  desire  to  get  money  without  earn- 
ing it  is  the  soul  of  betting.  How  many 
"trials  of  speed"  would  there  be  if,  by  some 
method  which  man  has  never  yet  discovered, 


70  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

betting  on  the  results  could  be  wholly  pre- 
vented ?  Vice  in  all  its  forms — gambling, 
drunkenness,  lying,  cheating,  profanity,  riot- 
ing, and  fighting — are  the  natural  adjuncts 
of  every  race-course.  Human  birds  of  prey 
flock  to  it  from  under  the  whole  heavens,  and 
gorge  themselves  to  the  full.  And  with  all 
this  evil  it  has  not  one  redeeming  feature. 
As  an  amusement  it  is  essentially  low  and 
animal.  If  two  horses  run  a  race,  any  body 
who  is  not  an  idiot  knows  that  in  all  proba- 
bility one  will  come  out  ahead  of  the  other; 
and  who  but  an  idiot  will  care  which  it  is.'* 
What  matters  it  whether  a  horse  that  be- 
longs to  some  branded  swindler  can  go  a  mile 
in  three  minutes  or  two.?  Why  should  peo- 
ple leave  their  useful  employments,  and  as- 
semble in  thousands,  from  far  and  near, 
merely  to  see  one  horse  beat  another  horse? 
The  whole  thing  is  senseless. 

While  there  is  not  a  single  solid  argument 
in  its  favor,  there  are  numerous  and  weighty 


HORSE-RACING.  71 

objections  against  horse-racing.  It  involves 
a  fearful  waste.  A  race-horse  is  more  ex- 
pensive to  keep  than  a  family  of  ten  chil- 
dren. The  spectators  who  crowd  to  see  the 
race  lose  time  and  money.  The  betting,  in- 
separable from  the  affair,  opens  the  flood- 
gates of  a  deluge  of  fraud  and  falsehood.  It 
fires  the  hearts  of  the  ignorant  and  inexperi- 
enced with  that  dangerous  temptation,  a  thirst 
for  money  which  they  have  not  earned.  The 
sudden  losses  and  gains  rouse  the  passions, 
and  lead  to  collisions,  fierce  and  furious,  be- 
tween losers  and  winners.  The  vender  of 
intoxicating  drinks  will  be  there,  for  he  knows 
that  his  chances  are  best  when  there  is  most 
of  uproar  and  excitement.  The  professional 
pickpocket  and  the  gambler  will  be  there,  for 
they  know  that  the  crowds  will  yield  them  a 
rich  harvest  of  ill-gotten  gain.  The  public 
roads  in  the  vicinity  of  the  race-ground  will 
be  dangerous  to  quiet  travelers,  by  reason  of 
the  multitude  of  vehicles   which  dash  along 


72  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

furiously,  the  drivers  crazy  with  excitement 
and  drink,  and  the  horses  wild  with  the 
shouting  and  the  lash.  And  children  will  be 
there,  their  sensitive  natures  receiving  im- 
pressions every  moment,  their  eyes  becoming 
accustomed  to  scenes  of  vice,  and  their  ears 
familiar  with  the  voice  of  passion  and  pro- 
fanity. 

The  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
should  never  be  seen  at  such  places.  If  one 
of  them  attending  a  horse-race  should  die 
there,  by  casualty  or  sudden  disease,  would 
it  be  considered  good  taste  to  name  the  lo- 
cality in  the  funeral  discourse.?  Would  it 
figure  well  in  the  published  obituary.?  The 
path  of  duty  is  so  plain  that  none  need  err. 
Let  no  one,  for  a  day  or  an  hour,  leave  the 
rock  and  plunge  into  this  abyss  of  fraud  and 
folly.  Besides  the  open,  visible  evils  which 
cluster  about  a  horse-race,  there  are  great 
gulfs  of  villainy  which  few  know  of,  and  yet 
by  which  many  suffer.     Not   seldom  is  the 


HORSE-RACING.  73 

matter  of  victory  and  defeat  secretly  arranged 
days  and  weeks  before  the  race  takes  place, 
and  the  men  who  make  the  treacherous  com- 
pact win  their  tens  of  thousands  by  betting 
in  favor  of  the  horse  which  it  is  agreed  shall 
distance  the  others.  The  habit  of  betting  is 
a  vice  which  speedily  destroys  all  truth  and 
honor.  No  amusement,  so  called,  which  lives 
by  betting  will  long  retain  even  the  semblance 
of  honesty.  Horse-racing  is  certainly  not  an 
exception  to  this  rule.  Its  whole  history  is 
black  with  treachery  and  fraud.  No  pro- 
fessed follower  of  Christ  can  have  any  thing 
to  do  with  it,  either  in  the  way  of  active 
agency  or  secret  encouragement,  without  sin. 
We  can  not  close  this  chapter  more  appro- 
priately than  by  quoting  the  emphatic  words 
of  Thomas  Hughes,  an  able  member  of  the 
British  Parliament  and  a  decided  friend  of 
the  American  Republic.  He  had  seen  in  the 
public  journals  the  statement  that  certain 
capitalists  of  New  York  were  about  to  estab- 


74 


POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 


lish  somewhere  on  the  Hudson  a  race-ground, 
which  they  hoped  would,  in  time,  rival  the 
doubtful  "glories  of  Epsom  and  Ascot:" 

"Heaven  help  you!  then;  for  of  all  the 
cankers  of  our  old  civilization  there  is  noth- 
ing in  this  country  approaching  in  unblush- 
ing meanness,  in  rascality  holding  its  head 
high,  to  this  belauded  institution  of  the  Brit- 
ish turf. 

"It  is  quite  true  that  a  very  considerable 
section  of  our  aristocracy  is  on  the  turf,  but 
with  what  result?  Shall  a  man  touch  pitch 
and  not  be  defiled  ?  There  is  not  a  man  of 
them  whose  position  and  character  has  not 
been  lowered  by  the  connection,  while  in  the 
majority  it  ends  in  bringing  down  their  stand- 
ard of  morality  to  that  of  blacklegs,  and  de- 
livering over  their  estates  into  the  grasp  of 
Jew  attorneys. 

"The  last  notable  instance  among  oui 
jeunesse  doree  is  that  of  the  Duke  of  Ham- 
ilton, who   succeeded  to  a  clear  ^^70,000   a 


HORSE-RACING,  75 

year,  some  three  years  ago,  and  who  is  now 
a  pensioner  of  his  creditors  in  the  ring,  while 
the  old  palace  of  the  Douglas  is  at  the  order 
and  disposition  of  the  celebrated  Mr.  Pad- 
wick.  This  gentleman,  at  his  Derby  dinner 
this  year,  entertained  three  dukes,  two  mar- 
quises, and  six  earls,  and  I  believe  there  was 
only  one  untitled  man  at  the  board — all  of 
these  under  the  thumb  or  anxious  to  culti- 
vate the  esteemed  favors  of  this  'giver  of  all 
good  things.'  Just  consider  for  one  moment 
what  our  modern  system  of  betting  has 
brought  us  to.  A  reliable  tip  is  that  which 
the  most  scrupulous  young  gentleman  on  the 
turf  desires  above  all  other  earthly  blessings 
before  a  great  race ;  that  is  to  say,  some  pri- 
vate information  which  may  enable  him  to 
overreach  his  dearest  friend  or  his  own 
brother,  if  he  can  induce  him  to  take  the 
odds." 


CHAPTER   V. 

BASE   BALL. 

*'And  the  people  sat  down  to  eat  and  drink,  and  rose  up  to 
playy     Exodus  xxxii,  6. 

BASE  BALL  may  be  made  a  very  pleas- 
ant amusement,  wholly  unobjectionable 
either  in  regard  to  health  or  morals.  Many 
of  our  readers  well  remember  how  it  used  to 
be  played  by  the  village  school-boys.  Two 
of  the  best  players  volunteered,  or  were 
elected  by  acclamation,  to  organize  the  two 
"sides."  The  leaders  tossed  up  a  bat,  with  a 
mark  on  one  side  of  it,  to  determine  the  first 
choice.  The  winner  looked  around  the  circle 
of  boys   and   made   his   selection ;    then    the 

other  leader  named  a  boy  for  his  side,  and  so 

n 


yS  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

it  went  on,  by  alternate  selections,  till  all 
were  enrolled.  The  bat  was  again  tossed  up, 
to  determine  who  should  be  "in"  first,  and 
then  the  play  began.  How  they  knocked 
the  ball,  and  ran  and  threw  the  ball  at  each 
other,  and  fell  down  in  their  eagerness  to 
avoid  being  hit,  and  laughed  and  shouted,  and 
grew  hot,  and  red,  and  finally  weary!  No 
crowd  of  excited  spectators  were  there  to  ap- 
plaud special  acts  of  skill,  and  thus  spoil  the 
sport ;  no  "  scorer "  noted  down  in  his  book 
the  number  of  "  runs "  or  of  "  fly-catches  ;" 
no  representative  of  the  public  press  was 
there^  to  prepare  an  extended  and  eloquent 
report,  confounding  simple  readers  with  his 
vocabulary  of  new  terms  ;  no  body  inquired 
which  side  was  victorious,  and  all  were  happy. 
And  in  these  later  days,  if  a  score  of 
young  men  or  older  men  would  provide  a 
basket  of  refreshments,  and  go  out  into  the 
fields  by  themselves  and  play  two  or  three 
hours,    in    the    ancient    and    honorable    way, 


BASE  BALL.  79 

carelessly,  hilariously,  not  even  noticing  who 
makes  the  most  "runs,"  they  would  all  feel 
the  better  the  next  day;  and  the  wit  and 
humor  elicited  on  the  occasion  would  echo 
in  twenty  home  circles  for  weeks  to  come. 

But  since  it  attained  the  dignity  of  being 
our  "national  game,"  base  ball  has  become 
a  ponderous  and  elaborate  affair.  Rules  as 
rigid  as  those  which  govern  the  proceedings 
of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  are 
fixed,  by  general  councils  of  men  learned  in 
the  art,  and  goodly  volumes  are  published 
discussing  the  size,  shape,  and  weight  of 
balls  and  bats,  and  determining  the  proper 
distances  between  the  bases.  Associations 
are  formed,  who  assume  a  name,  devise  a 
uniform,  and  have  initiation  fees  and  monthly 
dues.  The  formation  of  the  club,  the  selec- 
tion of  the  members,  is  a  very  serious  busi- 
ness, involving,  as  it  does,  the  fortunes  of  the 
fame  of  the  association  in  its  future  contests 
for    championships    and    newspaper    honors. 


80  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

Young  men  are  in  demand  who  are  willing 
to  devote  their  whole  time  and  mental  en 
ergies  to  the  acquisition  of  dexterity  in 
throwing  a  ball  or  catching  it.  Professional 
players  are  found,  who  are  recruited  from 
that  idle,  shiftless,  and  yet  ambitious  class 
of  mortals  who  are  ready  to  wo^k  with  the 
energy  of  giants  one  day  in  the  week  at  any 
useless  task,  provided  they  have  the  privilege 
of  lounging  about  the  other  six  days,  boast- 
ing of  their  feats  and  basking  in  the  admira- 
tion of  all  the  little  boys  in  the  neighborhood. 
These  professionals  train  as  carefully  as  prize- 
fighters, and  are,  in  fact,  the  same  style  of 
men  drawn  mild.  In  some  cases  they  hire 
themselves  to  the  club  for  a  single  exhibition 
game;  in  others,  they  engage  for  the  season. 
Their  pay  is  ridiculously  high,  considering  the 
service  rendered.  We  hear  of  a  club  that 
secured  one  player  for  a  thousand  dollars  for 
the  season.  Another  player  was  induced  to 
change  his  residence  from  one  city  to  another, 


BASE  BALL.  8 1 

and  was  set  up  by  his  employers  in  a  store, 

with  a  stock  costing  fifteen  hundred  dollars, 

by  way  of  securing  his  valuable  aid  on  great 

occasions. 

When  the  club  is  organized,  there  must  be 

daily  practice  for  the  benefit  of  the  novices. 

This  is  done  often  to  the  neglect  of  every 

thing  else,  to  the  sore  annoyance  of  parents 

and  employers,  and  when  a  good  degree  of 

skill  is  supposed  to  be  gained  another  club, 

fifty  or  five  hundred  miles  away,  is  invited  to 

meet  in   friendly  contest.     The    newspapers 

announce   that   the  Exotics  have  challenged 

the   Cupids,   name    the    time   and   the   place, 

and  express  an  ardent  hope  that  the  weather 

will  be  propitious.     The  eventful  day  arrives ; 

"play   is    called,"   and    the   contest   proceeds 

with  all  spirit  and  vigor.     They  pitch,  they 

bat,  they  run,  they  pant,  they  grow  red  in  the 

face,  they  perspire,  they  strain  their  muscles 

and  rend  their  garments  in  superhuman  effort. 

The  scorers  set  down  their  marks,  the  report- 
6 


82  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

ers  of  the  public  press  scratch  away  at  their 
notes,  the  spectators  applaud.  Intense  excite- 
ment characterizes  the  entire  performance. 
There  is  no  brain  power  to  spare  on  pleasant- 
ries, no  surplus  breath  to  waste  in  laughter. 
Awkward  episodes  occur.  A  head  is  broken 
by  an  erring  bat,  or  a  finger  by  a  ball,  or  two 
players,  running  with  upturned  faces  and  out- 
stretched hands  to.  catch  the  same  descending 
ball,  rush  together  with  a  fearful  thump,  and 
fall  backward  in  collapse.  Perhaps  proceed- 
ings are  still  further  diversified  by  the  occur- 
rence of  a  little  fight. 

The  game  in  due  time  ends,  and  one  party 
or  the  other  is  declared  victors  by  so  many 
**  runs,"  and  the  winners  and  the  losers  ad- 
journ to  a  hotel  and  refresh  themselves  with  a 
supper,  of  which  wine-bibbing  generally  forms 
a  prominent  feature.  Speeches,  too,  are  made 
by  the  talking  members  of  each  club,  express- 
ive of  the  most  intense  admiration  of  each 
other's    prowess,    and    breathing    unutterable 


BASE  BALL.  83 

friendship.  The  reporter,  who  has  been  pre- 
sented with  a  comphmentary  ticket  for  this 
very  purpose,  takes  notes  of  what  is  said  and 
done,  and  the  next  morning  the  newspaper 
lays  before  an  admiring  world  the  important 
intelligence  that  "  the  pitching  of  the  Cupids 
was  superb,  the  batting  of  the  Exotics  was 
magnificent,  the  fielding  of  Jones  and  Smith 
elicited  universal  applause,  the  supper  was  all 
that  an  epicure  could  desire,  and  the  wit  and 
eloquence  of  Mr.  Brown's  speech  were  equaled 
only  by  the  beauty  and  pathos  of  Mr.  Jenkins' 
reply."  While  an  agitated  world  is  laboring 
with  this  startling  announcement,  the  princi- 
pal performers  stay  at  home  and  rest,  or  limp 
wearily  out  to  the  apothecary's  to  make  in- 
vestments in  pain-killers  and  strengthening 
plasters. 

And  this,  forsooth,  is  the  great  National 
Game.  It  has  scarce  a  single  feature  of  real 
recreation.  The  overwrought  excitement,  the 
excessive   physical    exertion,   the  absence   of 


84  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS, 

mental  ease  and  conversational  freedom  con- 
demn it.  The  publicity  of  the  performance 
destroys  all  the  good  that  might  otherwise  re- 
sult from  it,  and,  instead  of  play,  makes  it  a 
mere  exhibition,  whose  aim  is  not  rest  but 
notoriety,  and  whose  effect  upon  the  per- 
former is  not  physical  renewal  but  exhaust- 
ion. The  game  itself  is  not  in  fault.  In  its 
simple  forms,  pursued  in  moderation,  with 
right  associations,  as  a  recreation,  and  not  as 
an  ambitious  show,  it  can  be  heartily  recom- 
mended to  young  men  who  need  some  active 
outdoor  amusement.  It  may  thus  be  made 
a  very  pleasant  and  not  unprofitable  thing. 
In  its  preposterous  form,  inflated  into  a 
"great  national  game,"  it  is  very  laborious, 
very  expensive  in  time  and  money,  and  not 
altogether  safe  for  soul  or  body.  It  is  then 
not  an  amusement,  but  a  pretentious  and 
useless  display,  whose  highest  reward  is  the 
shallow  applause  of  the  idle  and  the  vain. 
It   may  be   hazardous    to   one's    reputation 


BASE  BALL.  85 

for  sagacity  to  predict  the  downfall  of  any- 
fashionable  thing  on  the  ground  that  it  lacks 
the  basis  of  good  sense ;  still,  I  will  say  that 
the  modern  bubble  has  been  blown  so  big, 
that  it  seems  to  me  that  it  must  collapse 
before  long.  If  I  mistake  not,  there  are  al- 
ready signs  of  decay.  Many  young  men, 
whose  names  are  on  the  roll  decUne  to  play, 
and  are  active  members  of  the  club  only  at 
the  supper-table.  They  pay  their  share  of 
the  expense  of  public  games,  and  attend,  but 
find  it  pleasant  and  politic  to  perch  them- 
selves daintily  on  the  fence,  to  smoke  and 
applaud  in  the  shade,  while  their  hired  substi- 
tutes do  the  hard  work  in  the  hot  sun.  In 
due  time  the  novelty  of  the  whole  thing  will 
be  gone,  and  then  comes  the  end. 

But  if  its  having  become  an  overgrown 
piece  of  folly  were  the  only  charge  which 
may  be  made  against  it,  base  ball,  even  as 
cultivated  by  the  clubs,  might  survive  for  a 
time.     The  expense  is  not  in  its  favor.     We 


S6  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS, 

know  of  a  club  where  the  regular  annual  dues 
are  twelve  dollars  for  each  member.  Besides 
this  there  is  an  initiation  fee  to  be  paid  by 
beginners,  and  I  presume  extra  expenses  for 
extra  occasions.  The  club  has  a  hundred  and 
fifty  members,  and  the  aggregate  of  regular 
dues  can  not  be  less  than  two  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year.  No  doubt  there  are  clubs  whose 
annual  expenditure  amounts  to  three  times 
the  sum  named.  This  certainly  is  a  liberal 
price  to  pay  for  all  the  good  gained. 

There  is,  however,  a  much  worse  objection 
to  base  ball  than  the  waste  of  money.  The 
vices  which  cluster  about  the  race-course  be- 
gin to  haunt  the  ball-ground.  Thievish  men 
find  that  bets  can  be  made,  and  money  lost 
and  won,  at  a  ball  match  as  well  as  at  a  horse- 
race, and  the  same  frauds  and  stratagems  are 
employed.  Sometimes  money  to  the  amount 
of  fifty  or  even  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  is 
staked  on  the  result  of  a  single  match.  Men 
do  not  need  to  bet  large  sums  many  times 


BASE  BALL.  8/ 

before  they  are  ready  for  any  trick,  however 
infamous,  which  will  enable  them  to  win.  We 
have  seen,  in  a  former  chapter,  how  a  horse- 
race is  sometimes  secretly  sold  beforehand,  the 
parties  to  the  fraud  betting  accordingly,  and 
winning  every  thing.  The  same  thing  is  not 
unknown,  I  am  told,  among  the  ball  clubs.  A 
match  is  in  contemplation.  A  club  of  "  cham- 
pions" challenge  another  champion  club,  and 
all  possible  appliances  and  devices  are  em- 
ployed to  attract  attention,  draw  a  crowd,  and 
create  an  excitement.  While  the  rivals  are 
apparently  burning  with  intense  desire  for 
victory,  and  determined  to  contend  for  it  with 
heroic  energy,  a  few  members  of  the  clubs, 
without  the  consent  or  knowledge  of  the  rest, 
agree  so  to  manage  that  the  victory  shall  go 
in  a  certain  direction,  and  for  a  share  of  the 
spoils  thus  surrender  the  one  side  to  premed- 
itated defeat,  and  crown  the  other  with  false 
laurels.  I  have  heard  of  one  case,  where  a 
match  game  was  played  and  many  bets  were 


88  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

pending,  and  interested  parties  secured  a 
given  result  by  paying  the  moderate  sum  of 
three  hundred  dollars. 

In  fact,  so  many  vices  are  beginning  to 
gather  about  the  "great  national  game,"  as 
some  foolishly  term  it,  that  every  one  con- 
nected with  it  seems  to  be  regarded  with  a 
degree  of  suspicion.  Merchants  and  others, 
who  employ  numbers  of  young  men,  are 
doubtful  about  members  of  ball  clubs,  and  re- 
ject candidates  who  are  connected  with  them. 
This  looks  a  httle  hard,  but  we  must  remem- 
ber that  business  men  want  reliable,  trust- 
worthy clerks,  salesmen,  and  book-keepers. 
When  we  are  trying  to  learn  the  character 
of  a  stranger  every  hint  is  of  value,  and  a 
thing  aboiit  which  so  many  things  cluster  can 
not  be  a  recommendation. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


DANCING  AND  BALLS. 

"  They  said  forth  their  little  ones  like  a  flock,  and  their  chil- 
dren danced     Job  xxi,  ii. 

LET  us  now  turn  from  outdoor  diver- 
sions to  those  amusements  which  do 
not,  of  necessity,  demand  daylight  and  space 
for  their  cultivation. 

Dancing  is  one  of  these;  and  as  attempts 
are  being  made  at  the  present  time  to  intro- 
duce it  into  circles  whence  it  has  hitherto 
been  rigidly  excluded,  we  honor  it  with  the 
first  place  in  this  part  of  the  discussion,  and 
propose  to  give  it  all  due  attention.  It  is 
presumed  that  the  advocates  of  dancing  will 
insist,  at  the  outset,  that  we   shall  make  a 


90  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

distinction  among  the  various  fashionable 
dances  of  the  times.  It  is  not  probable  that 
any  reader  of  this  volume  will  attempt  to  de- 
fend the  "  German,"  or  round  dances.  It  is  a 
shameful,  revolting  spectacle  to  see  a  young 
girl  whirling  around  in  the  arms  of  a  man 
who  perhaps  an  hour  ago  was  an  utter  stran- 
ger to  her,  her  head  leaning  upon  his  breast, 
and  their  whole  persons  in  closest  contact. 
This  style  is  positively  immodest,  corrupting, 
offensive  to  morals,  as  well  as  to  delicacy  and 
refinement.  How  dare  a  young  man  propose 
any  such  performance  to  a  lady  for  whom  he 
has  a  shadow  of  respect }  How  can  any 
young  lady,  who  respects  herself,  submit 
to  it.? 

But  cotillons  and  quadrilles,  we  are  told, 
are  different ;  they  are  modest,  graceful,  and 
harmless.  Doubtless  there  is  a  difference, 
and  yet  they  differ  only  as  the  varioloid  dif- 
fers from  the  worse  disease. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  prove  that  the  mere 


DANCING  AND  BALLS.  9 1 

motion  is  sinful  in  order  to  condemn  it;  nor 
need  we  assail  the  personal  character  of  all 
who  plead  for  dancing,  in  one  form  or  an- 
other, as  an  innocent  amusement.  The  ab- 
stract possibiUty  of  its  being  so  practiced  as 
to  render  it  a  healthful  exercise  may  be  ad- 
mitted. I  am  acquainted  with  a  gentleman 
of  more  than  three-score  years  and  ten,  whose 
erect  form  and  happy  face,  ruddy  with  health 
and  radiant  with  kindness  and  inward  peace, 
are  pleasant  to  see.  Meeting  him  in  the 
street  one  day,  I  asked  him  how  he  managed 
to  be  young  when  he  was  old — how  he  con- 
trived to  keep  up  the  life  and  bloom  of 
Spring  amid  the  chill  winds  and  gathering 
clouds  of  Winter.  In  reply,  he  alluded  rev- 
erently to  the  Divine  Master,  whom  he  serves 
in  gladness  of  heart,  as  the  source  of  all 
blessing,  and  then  added :  '*  I  take  care  of  my 
health.  I  take  exercise.  I  rise  early  in  the 
morning,  and  among  the  very  first  things  that 
I  do  I  put  on  a  pair  of  soft  slippers,  go  up 


92  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

into  the  attic  of  my  house,  and  then  go  round 
and  round  in  a  circle,  on  a  gentle  run,  till  I 
am  in  a  pleasant  glow.  This  makes  me  feel 
well  and  cheerful  all  day." 

Now,  if  any  advocate  of  dancing  will  prac- 
tice it  only  as  our  aged  friend  practices  his 
peculiar  exercise,  we  bring  no  accusation 
against  his  sanitary  measures ;  we  have  no 
controversy  with  his  principles  or  his  per- 
formances. We  will  even  go  so  far  as  to 
confess  the  beauty  of  certain  fancy  pictures 
of  innocent  dancing  in  the  family  circle, 
wherein  one  daughter  presides  at  the  piano, 
and  the  rest  of  the  children  whirl  about 
in  their  graceful  evolutions,  till  father  and 
mother  feel  the  happy  contagion,  and,  start- 
ing up,  join  in  the  mirth ;  and  even  the  white- 
haired  grandsire  looks  on  admiringly,  and 
keeps  time  with  his  best  foot,  and  applauds 
with  his  cane,  and  then  calls  the  household 
to  order  for  evening  prayers.  We  do  not 
happen  to  know  any  "happy  family"  where 


DANCING  AND  BALLS.  .     93 

devotion  and  dancing  live  together  on  such 
excellent  terms ;  nevertheless,  extraordinary 
things  do  occur  in  the  world,  and  this  may 
possibly  be  among  them. 

But  all  this  does  not  shake  the  settled  con- 
viction that  it  would  be  unwise  to  cultivate 
dancing  of  any  sort  as  an  amusement,  or  even 
to  tolerate  it.  The  reasons  upon  which  this 
conclusion  is  based  are  numerous  and  weighty. 

I.  Dancing  as  it  is  tisually  practiced^  aiid 
will  continue  to  be  practiced,  if  at  all,  lacks 
the  elements  of  trne  7'ecreatio7i. 

It  is  folly  to  talk  of  sending  children  to 
dancing  schools,  and  then  confine  their  per- 
formances to  the  family  circle.  Dancing  is 
essentially  an  exhibition  which  addresses  the 
eye  of  the  spectator,  and  craves  admiration. 
It  tends  directly  to  cultivate  the  love  of  dis- 
play and  of  the  praise  which  it  elicits,  a  pas- 
sion as  avaricious  in  its  way  as  the  miser's 
greed  of  gold.  Introduce  dancing  generally, 
and  of  the  youth  who  attain  a  degree  of  pro- 


94  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

ficiency  not  a  few  will  soon  tire  of  the  ap- 
proval of  the  little  circle,  and  thirst  for  the 
applause  of  the  multitude.  They  who  imag- 
ine that  they  have  acquired  a  grace  and  a 
skill  which  can  not  fail  to  win  the  praises  of 
all  beholders,  will  not  be  content  to  hide  their 
light  under  the  bushel  of  home,  and  soon  the 
performances  in  the  private  parlor  will  be 
considered  of  no  account,  except  as  rehear- 
sals for  more  public  displays,  and  the  ball- 
room will  be  looked  upon  as  the  proper  field 
where  artistic  ambition  is  to  win  its  laurels. 

And  in  this  form  dancing  is  detrimental  to 
soul  and  body.  The  late  hours  which  it  in- 
volves are  a  fatal  objection  to  it.  The  con- 
fined atmosphere  in  which  it  is  practiced  is 
injurious.  The  style  of  the  refreshments 
common  on  such  occasions,  and  the  untimely 
hour  when  they  are  taken,  increase  the  evil. 
The  undue  excitement  exhausts  instead  of 
invigorating  the  vital  powers.  The  sudden 
transitions  from   the  heated  ball-room  to  the 


DANCING  AND  BALLS.  95 

chill  night  air  are  not  safe,  as  many  an  early 
grave  can  testify.  These  things  conspire  to 
make  a  ball  or  a  dancing  party  a  direct  at- 
tack upon  the  health  of  those  who  attend  it. 
Instead  of  invigorating  the  weak,  it  requires 
vigor  to  endure  the  exhausting  strain.  A 
single  night  thus  spent  will  make  its  visible 
mark  upon  the  face.  They  who  escape  with 
the  least  injury  are  languid  and  dull,  and  per- 
haps irritable,  for  days  afterward,  while  some 
are  totally  unfitted  for  their  usual  avocations, 
and  require  time  to  recover,  as  if  from  an  at- 
tack of  illness.  While  physical  health  is  thus 
impaired  or  imperiled,  there  is  no  promise  of 
mental  or  moral  improvement  to  compensate 
the  injury.  There  is  no  time  for  rational  con- 
versation, and  any  attempt  in  that  direction 
would  be  deemed  out  of  place.  The  liveliest 
imagination  can  see  no  moral  good  in  the 
performance.  The  whole  thing  produces  no 
higher  pleasure  than  engine-boys  feel  while 
running    in    search    of   the    fire;    and   in   the 


96 


POPULAR  AMUSEMEIVTS. 


matter  of  aching  heads  and  low  spirits,  it  is 
probable  that  those  who  run  with  the  engine 
and  those  who  attend  the  ball  are  about  alike 
the  next  day. 

2.  Dancing  has  had  a  historic  name. 
There  was,  indeed,  in  ancient  times,  a  sol- 
emn religious  ceremony,  which,  through  the 
poverty  of  human  language,  was  called  danc- 
ing. When  Pharaoh  and  his  host  sank  into 
the  depths  of  the  sea,  while  Israel  stood  safe 
upon  the  shore,  Miriam  and  her  maidens 
came  forth  with  timbrels  and  with  dances, 
and  sang  to  the  Lord  a  lofty  anthem  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving.  When  David  brought 
home  the  ark  of  God  he  danced  before  it; 
but  it  was  a  strictly  religious  ceremony, 
nothing  like  the  caperings  and  curvetings  of 
our  own  day.  There  is  no  intimation  what- 
ever that  Miriam  and  her  maidens,  or  David, 
ever  danced  except  on  such  occasions.  Pleas- 
ure dances  have  been  almost  universally  held 
in   bad   repute.     The    daughter   of    Herodias 


DANCING  AND  BALLS.  97 

danced  to  please  Herod,  as  he  sat  at  the  ban- 
quet, bewildered  with  wine;  but  the  per- 
former was  one  who  could  lightly  ask  for  the 
life  of  an  innocent  man  and  a  devoted  serv- 
ant of  God;  and  the  royal  spectator  was  a 
tyrant,  who  could  carelessly  order  his  execu- 
tion. In  Rome,  and  Athens,  and  Ephesus 
the  dancing  was  done  by  the  degraded  and 
the  vile,  who  employed  it  as  a  means  of  ad- 
vertising their  profession.  The  dancers  of 
Egypt  and  India  at  the  present  day  are  of 
the  same  character. 

Now,  I  do  not  know  that  it  would  be  right 
for  me  to  denounce  indiscriminately  all  who 
perform  publicly  in  places  of  amusement  in 
our  cities  and  towns,  yet  it  is  safe  for  me  to 
say  that  a  dancing  girl,  however  loudly  her 
fame  may  be  trumpeted  by  the  newspapers, 
finds  her  professional  reputation  every-where 
a  bar  to  her  reception  into  good  society. 
Why  should  it  be  so?  It  certainly  is  not  be- 
cause of   the   mere  publicity   of  professional 


98  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

life.  If  it  were,  then  Miss  Dickinson  and 
Miss  Evans,  and  scores  of  others,  would  find 
themselves  in  the  same  condemnation,  instead 
of  being  honored  and  applauded.  Why  a  fe- 
male public  lecturer  should  be  respected,  and 
a  female  public  dancer  despised  and  shunned, 
I  can  not  understand,  unless  there  is  some- 
thing in  dancing  itself,  or  in  the  character  of 
those  who  have  made  it  their  profession,  that 
has  merited  condemnation.  Ladies  of  the 
highest  respectability  go  to  hear  the  lecturer, 
and  at  the  close  crowd  around  the  desk  to  be 
introduced  to  her;  other  ladies,  certainly  no 
more  scrupulous  in  regard  to  their  associa- 
tions, go  to  see  the  dancer  perform,  and  the 
next  day  will  not  look  at  her  in  the  street. 
What  makes  the  difference.''  Will  the  apol- 
ogist for  dancing  explain } 

3.  A  love  for  dancing  parties  and  balls  is 
universally  deemed  inconsistent  with  the  seri- 
■  oiisness  and  devotion  ivhicJi  characterize  a  true 
Christian. 


DANCING  AND  BALLS.  99 

Dancing  is  regarded  as  the  favorite  diver- 
sion of  the  vain  and  the  frivolous.  Nominal 
Christians  may  be  found  at  balls  and  dancing 
assemblies,  but  they  are  persons  who  have  no 
weight  of  Christian  character,  and  exert  no 
influence  in  favor  of  religion.  The  world,  un- 
convicted and  careless,  rather  likes  such  pro- 
fessors of  religion,  because  their  example  is 
an  opiate  wherewith  to  quiet  an  occasional 
pang  of  conscience.  The  worldly  and  the 
prayerless  think  more  favorably  of  themselves 
and  of  their  prospects  of  heaven  when  they 
see  that  Church  members  resemble  them  so 
closely.  But  when  the  worldly  man  is  con- 
vinced of  sin,  and  desires  to  find  pardon,  he 
never  sends  for  one  of  these  unfaithful  pro- 
fessors to  give  him  spiritual  counsel.  When 
the  wicked  are  about  to  die,  they  do  not  want 
prayer  offered  at  their  bedside  by  any  of 
these  fiddhng,  dancing,  wine-bibbing,  honor- 
ary members  of  the  Church.  They  name 
men  and  women  of  undoubted  piety.     They 


lOO  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

suspect  those  who  can  join  them  in  their  fol- 
lies and  feel  no  condemnation.  They  do  not 
estimate  very  highly  a  Christian  profession 
which  exerts  so  little  control  over  those  that 
make  it.  Nay,  rebuke  a  scorner  for  his  sins, 
and  in  many  cases  he  will  seek  to  defend  him- 
self by  a  sneering  allusion  to  those  very  pro- 
fessors of  religion  who  verily  believe  that 
they  were  making  capital  for  their  Church  by 
showing  that  it  can  not  be  suspected  of  be- 
ing "Puritanic." 

4.  Dancing  involves  undesirable  associations. 

We  bring  no  indiscriminate  accusations 
against  those  who  love  to  dance.  In  almost 
every  community  where  it  is  cultivated  to  any 
great  extent,  it  will  not  be  confined  to  any 
particular  class  nor  to  any  one  moral  level. 
Still,  if  we  are  to  tell  the  whole  truth,  it  must 
be  stated  that  dancing  prevails  less  as  you  as- 
cend the  scale  of  virtue,  intelligence,  and  re- 
ligion, and  more  as  you  go  down  to  explore 
the  realms  of  ignorance  and  vice.     However 


DANCING  AND  BALLS.  lOI 

numerous  and,  after  their  fashion,  respectable 
its  votaries  may  be,  there  is  a  line  above 
which  it  never  prevails.  Like  the  deluge  in 
the  days  of  Noah,  it  fills  the  valleys  first,  and 
covers  the  low  places ;  but,  unlike  the  deluge, 
there  are  elevations  which  the  swelling  waters 
never  reach,  heights  upon  which  the  dark  tide 
never  shows  even  its  spray.  In  our  great 
cities,  those  sections  which  are  recognized  as 
the  homes  and  dens  of  vice  and  degradation, 
the  very  region  and  shadow  of  death,  abound 
in  dance-houses ;  and  the  sound  of  the  violin 
and  of  many  trampling  feet  mingles  nightly 
with  the  noise  of  rage  and  blasphemy,  and 
the  hoarse  clamor  of  bloody  strife.  Intem- 
perance and  infamy  are  foul  birds  which  agree 
well  in  the  same  nest  with  dancing.  But  as 
you  asaend  the  scale,  not  only  the  more  gross 
forms  of  vice,  but  the  dance  is  left  behind 
long  before  you  reach  the  highest  altitudes. 
The  devotedly  pious,  the  truly  pure  in  heart, 
do   not  dance.      In  all   ages   of  the   Church 


102  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

such  spirits  have  always  kept  aloof  from  the 
follies  of  their  times,  and  had  "no  fellowship 
with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness." 

They  who  give  themselves  to  this  amuse- 
ment, therefore,  turn  away  from  the  best  ex- 
amples of  pure  and  undefiled  religion,  and  the 
noblest,  holiest  fellowship  within  their  reach. 
They  ally  themselves  with  the  worldly,  the 
thoughtless,  the  prayerless,  the  gay  butterflies 
of  fashion  and  soulless  pleasure.  They  throw 
themselves  among  influences  in  the  highest 
degree  unfavorable  to  sober  views  of  life,  and 
the  earnest,  thorough  performance  of  its  great 
duties.  They  voluntarily  leave  the  rock  and 
the  shore  of  safety  to  launch  upon  a  treach- 
erous stream,  the  rippling  music  of  whose 
waters  will  soon  cease,  and  the  bloom  of 
whose  flowery  banks  will  soon  disappear,  and 
whose  current,  silent  but  swift  and  strong, 
bear  them  steadily  away  from  light  and  hope 
down  to  despair,  remorse,  and  ruin. 

Dancing  wastes  time,  wastes  health,  scat- 


DANCING  AND  BALLS.  103 

ters  serious  thought,  compromises  Christian 
character,  leads  to  entangling  associations 
with  frivolous  minds  and  careless  hearts.  It 
is  as  sure  a  foe  to  intellectual  growth  as  to 
moral  progress.  Young  people  who  are  famed 
as  "beautiful  dancers"  are  generally  good  for 
nothing  else.  The  time  that  should  be  de- 
voted to  something  valuable  is  spent  in  prac- 
ticing posture-making  before  a  mirror,  or  a 
professor  of  the  high  att,  who  shows  them 
how  to  step  so,  and  so,  and  so;  while  God 
calls,  the  Savior  waits,  life  wanes,  and  the 
tremendous  realities  of  the  eternal  world  ev- 
ery moment  come  nearer.  Even  Cicero,  the 
heathen  moralist,  affirms  that  "no  man  in  his 
senses  will  dance."  The  dancing-master  is 
the  devil's  drill-sergeant,  just  as  the  theater 
is  the  devil's  church. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
CARDS,  CHESS,  AND  BILLIARDS. 

'■'■  Abstain  frotn  all  appearance  of  evil.''''     i  Thess.  v,  22. 

CARDS  are  an  old  game — so  old  that  it 
is  impossible,  not  only  to  tell  to  whose 
ingenuity  we  may  ascribe  the  useless  inven- 
tion, but  even  to  name  the  land  or  the  age 
in  which  they  originated.  They  may  be 
traced,  however,  to  Asiatic  sources.  For 
many  centuries  the  Chinese  and  the  Hindoos 
have  known  the  game,  and  from  them  it  has 
spread  over  the  world.  It  was  cultivated  by 
the  Moors  in  Spain,  and  through  their  agency 
made  its  way  into  Italy,  Germany,  and  the 
other  nations  of  the  West.  In  some  Euro- 
pean countries  the  pastime  was  prohibited  by 

los 


I06  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

law.  This  prohibition  probably  grew  out  of 
the  superstitions  of  the  times,  it  being  an 
article  of  popular  faith  that  games  of  chance 
were  under  the  control  of  the  devil,  who  gave 
success  to  those  who  sold  themselves  to  his 
service.  But  cards  gradually  came  into  favor 
among  the  idle  and  the  frivolous ;  and  at  last 
even  royalty — as  royalty  was  in  those  days — 
did  not  disdain  to  indulge  in  them.  Samuel 
Pepys,  in  his  amusing  and  instructive  diary, 
records  that  on  a  certain  Sunday  evening  in 
February,  1667,  he  found  Catherine  and  the 
Queen  of  Charles  II  playing  cards  with  the 
Duchess  of  York,  and  one  or  two  more,  the 
rooms  -being  "full  of  ladies  and  great  men." 
Addison,  who  wrote  a  little  later,  continually 
alludes  to  the  game  as  the  favorite  diversion 
of  the  fashionables  of  his  times ;  and  such 
it  seems  to  have  continued  among  the  gay 
and  the  thoughtless  of  English  circles,  till 
about  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 
The  love  of  it,  however,  was  never  universal. 


CARDS,  CHESS,  AND  BILLIARDS.  10/ 

Home  Tooke,  who  assailed  the  corruptions 
and  tyranny  of  the  EngUsh  Government  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  George  III,  and  was  fined  and 
imprisoned  sundry  times  for  his  hardihood, 
was  once  introduced  to  the  sovereign,  who 
entered  into  a  careless  conversation  with  him, 
and,  among  other  things,  asked  him  if  he 
played  cards.  "May  it  please  your  Majesty," 
was  the  witty  reply,  "  I  do  not  know  a  king 
from  a  knave." 

It  is  said  that  cards  are  stealthily  creeping 
up  into  circles  from  which  they  have  hitherto 
been  reHgiously  excluded.  And  here  the 
writer  is  constrained  to  confess  his  lack  of 
personal  knowledge  of  the  subject  under  dis- 
cussion. He  is,  indeed,  aware  that  individual 
cards  have  their  names,  and  are  called  kings 
and  queens,  knaves  and  spades ;  that  they  are 
"shuffled"  and  "cut,"  and  that  a  certain  some- 
thing is  called  a  "  trick  " — doubtless  very  ap- 
propriately— but  having  no  ambition  to  stand 
in   the   presence  of   kings  of  this  particular 


I08  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

dynasty,  no  desire  to  cultivate  the  acquaint- 
ance of  knaves  of  any  sort,  no  love  of  tricks 
of  any  kind,  he  remains  in  willing  ignorance 
even  unto  this  day.  Two  or  three  times  in 
the  course  of  his  life,  he  has  seen  people  play- 
ing cards.  First,  one  would  lay  down  a  piece 
of  paper  with  spots  on  it,  then  another  player 
would  lay  down  another  spotted  paper,  and  so 
it  went  on  so  long  as  he  beheld  the  perform- 
ance ;  but  the  process  did  not  seem  to  him  to 
be  attended  by  any  particular  result,  nor  did 
he  learn,  possibly  because  he  did  not  wait  and 
watch  long  enough,  whether  the  victory  de- 
pended most  on  chance,  sagacity,  or  mathe- 
matical calculation. 

But  there  are  facts  which  every  body  knows. 
Cards  are  the  gambler's  tools.  They  are  a 
favorite  diversion  of  the  aimless  and  the  idle  ; 
they  have  a  bad  name  among  honest  people 
If,  as  some  say,  they  were  introduced  into 
Europe  by  a  physician,  who  adopted  them  as 
a  means  of  diverting  a  royal  patient  whose 


CARDS,  CHESS,  AND  BILLIARDS.  109 

intellect  was  shattered,  we  naturally  infer  that 
no  great  amount  of  intelligence,  or  strength 
of  intellect,  is  needed  to  qualify  the  player. 
And  to  this  inference  it  is  not  difficult  to  hang 
another — that  the  game  is  the  fitting  refuge 
of  men  and  women  who  are  conscious  that 
their  talents  enable  them  to  shine  better  in 
silence  than  in  conversation.  Whether,  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  of  the  play,  a  king  is  any 
better  than  a  knave,  or  a  diamond  than  a  club, 
I  do  not  claim  to  know,  but  I  imagine  that  in 
playing,  wit  and  intelligence  find  little  more 
enjoyment  than  do  the  dullest  and  most  stupid 
of  the  party. 

One  thing  is  certain,  there  is  no  true  utility 
in  the  game.  It  invigorates  neither  body  nor 
mind  ;  it  adds  nothing  to  the  store  of  mental 
wealth  ;  and  those  ignorant  of  it  lose  nothing 
by  their  lack  of  knowledge.  Again,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  to  some  minds  the  game  is  danger- 
ous. They  are  fascinated  by  it,  led  into  doubt- 
ful associations   and  evil   habits,  and   to  ruin 


no  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

itself.  It  seems  that  the  diversion  is  so  bar- 
ren of  ideas,  in  itself  deficient  in  interest,  that 
it  becomes  necessary  to  stake  small  sums  of 
money  "just  to  give  it  a  little  life."  Thus  the 
first  step  is  taken  in  the  road  that  leads  to  the 
gambler's  hell,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  demons 
who  there  watch  for  victims.  Like  other 
beasts  of  prey,  professional  gamblers  can  not 
live  by  devouring  each  other.  Idleness  must 
feed  upon  the  earnings  of  industry  or  starve. 
Vice  must  burrow  into  the  granary  which  be- 
longs to  virtue.  The  cool  and  calculating 
gambler  will  be  dehghted  to  see  card-playing 
become  fashionable  among  all  classes  of  soci- 
ety. He  knows  that  of  those  who  begin  with 
playing  for  mere  pastime,  a  certain  proportion 
will  be  bitten  by  the  mania  for  playing  for 
money,  and  thus  be  brought  within  reach  of 
his  sharp,  remorseless  claws. 

One  needs  but  little  information  in  regard 
to  card-playing  to  entitle  him  to  the  privilege 
of   heartily   despising   it.      Introduced,    as   it 


CARDS,  CHESS,  AND  BILLIARDS.         1 1 1 

would  seem,  for  the  express  purpose  of  reduc- 
ing mental  vivacity  and  culture  to  the  same 
dead  level  with  ignorance,  it  bears  the  sem- 
blance of  an  insult  to  any  company  in  which 
it  is  proposed,  wasting  precious  hours  in  a 
way  which  neither  invigorates  the  body,  nor 
supplies  the  mind  with  a  single  valuable  idea. 
I  do  not  see  how  any  conscientious,  intelligent 
person  can  deem  it  innocent.  Fastening  with 
a  strange  power  upon  characters  of  a  peculiar 
make,  and  turning  them  into  grist  for  the 
gambler's  mill,  no  prudent  person  will  deem 
it  safe.  Indeed,  the  history  of  every  gam- 
bling den  in  the  great  cities  of  our  own  coun- 
try, as  well  as  in  other  lands,  shows  that  the 
passion  for  cards,  and  the  hope  of  winning 
money  by  them,  often  becomes  an  utter  over- 
mastering infatuation,  almost  worthy  the  name 
of  insanity,  which  renders  the  victim  reckless 
of  the  claims  of  honor,  religion,  and  the  ten- 
derest  affections  of  our  nature,  and  drags  him 
down  relentlessly  to  his  doom.    Wholly  barren 


112  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

of  good  results,  prodigal  of  the  precious 
time  which  God  allots  for  nobler  purposes, 
void  of  every  element  of  rational  recreation, 
to  right  minds  unsatisfactory  and  to  some 
minds  unsafe,  we  need  not  wonder  that  the 
degree  in  which  card-playing  has  prevailed 
at  any  given  period  of  history,  is  a  fair  index 
of  the  corruption  of  the  age.  Let  no  pro- 
fessed follower  of  Christ  defile  his  or  her 
hands  with  so  suspicious  a  thing. 

Chess  claims  to  be  a  more  intellectual,  and 
even  more  ancient,  game  than  cards.  Its  his- 
tory and  its  principles  have  been  set  forth  in 
goodly  volumes.  Poetry  has  sung  its  charms. 
The  lives  of  its  famous  players  have  been 
written  and  their  methods  described,  and  a 
whole  library  of  its  peculiar  literature  has 
grown  up  around  it.  Its  admirers  trace  its 
history  for  five  thousand  years,  and  inform  us 
that  it  originated  among  the  acute,  dreaming 
inhabitants  of  India.  The  chess-player  plumes 
himself  on   the  aristocratic   character  of  his 


CARDS,  CHESS,  AND  BILLIARDS.  1 13 

favorite  amusement,  as  if  it  placed  him  above 
the  level  of  common  mortals. 

In  some  points  chess  is  less  objectionable 
than  cards.  It  does  not  depend  on  chance, 
and  there  is  little  opportunity  to  cheat.  More- 
over, where  the  players  are  skillful,  it  requires 
a  long  while  to  complete  a  game.  For  these 
reasons,  as  I  suppose,  chess  has  never  been 
adopted,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  by  the  profes- 
sional gambler;  and,  therefore,  its  historic 
name  and  present  social  standing  are  better. 
Mind  challenges  mind,  and  skill  alone  wins 
the  victory  in  the  duel  of  intellect.  Chess  is 
not  likely  to  become  epidemic.  It  is  so  deep 
a  game ;  it  demands  so  much  of  time  and 
silence  for  the  contest ;  it  employs  so  small  a 
number  at  once,  that  the  gay  and  the  thought- 
less, who  are  in  most  danger  from  irrational 
amusements,  will  care  little  for  it.  Still,  if  the 
reader  needs  a  hint,  and  is  glancing  along 
these  pages  in  search  of  it,  he  may  weigh  the 
suggestions  which  follow. 


1 14  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

Nobody  who  assumes  to  play  chess  at  all  is 
willing  to  be  known  as  a  poor  player.  To 
play  well,  or  even  respectably,  involves  a  great 
deal  of  study  and  practice,  and  the  spending 
of  much  time  and  mental  energy ;  enough,  in 
fact,  to  learn  one  of  the  dead  languages.  The 
game  so  taxes  the  intellect  that  it  can  not 
be  resorted  to  as  a  relaxation  from  mental 
toil.  There  is  no  physical  exercise  in  it,  no 
courting  of  the  sunlight  and  the  breeze  ;  there- 
fore, it  can  not  be  made  a  good  recreation  for 
the  sedentary.  It  conveys  no  new  ideas, 
makes  no  additions  to  our  accumulations  of 
mental  treasure ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  a  poor 
business  for  those  who  need  their  leisure 
hours  for  mental  improvement. 

Chess  is  not  popularly  a  recreation,  but  a 
pastime ;  that  is,  a  way  of  passing  the  time  ; 
and  the  time  thus  passed  is  wasted.  Many  a 
man,  bewitched  with  chess,  which  has  left  his 
mind  unfurnished  and  his  heart  untouched, 
has   spent   over  it  precious   days  and   years. 


CARDS,  CHESS,  AND  BILLIARDS.  1 1 5 

which,  if  rightly  improved,  would  have  made 
him  intelligent,  wise,  and  greatly  useful  in  his 
generation.  They  who  fear  God  ought  not 
thus  to  waste  the  golden  moments.  If  the 
regular  duties  of  the  day  leave  certain  hours 
at  our  disposal,  these  hours  are  too  valuable 
to  be  dreamed  away  over  a  painted  board,  and 
a  handful  of  puppets.  The  sedentary  need 
air  and  active  exercise,  which  will  expand 
the  lungs,  and  clothe  the  whole  frame  •  with 
strength.  Those  whose  labor  is  chiefly  that 
of  the  hands,  need  books  and  newspapers. 
The  student,  the  clerk,  the  apprentice,  the 
daughter  at  home,  have  more  important 
"moves"  to  make  than  those  of  the  chess- 
board, a  wiser  way  to  employ  brain  power 
than  to  spend  it  on  a  laborious  nothing,  a 
better  warfare  to  wage  than  the  petty  antago- 
nisms of  useless  skill,  a  record  to  make  in  the 
Book  of  Life  worth  infinitely  more  than  a 
life-long  shout  of  this  world's  shallow  praise 
ot  checks  and  champions. 


Il6  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

Billiards  are  simply  big  marbles,  "only 
this  and  nothing  more."  Authorities  on  the 
subject  inform  us  that  the  table  for  playing 
the  game  must  be  twelve  feet  long,  and  six 
feet  wide,  the  top  being  of  slate,  covered  with 
cloth.  Around  the  raised  edges  are  cushions 
of  India  rubber,  and  sundry  pockets.  Instead 
of  employing  his  thumb  and  fingers  to  shoot 
his  marble,  as  in  the  original  game,  the  billiard 
player  uses  a  stick.  There  are  two  sorts  of 
sticks — a  long  one  called  a  cue,  and  a  short 
one  termed  a  mace.  One  writer  confesses 
that  the  cue  is  the  thing,  and  the  only  thing, 
for  the  expert  to  use  ;  but  advises  ladies  to 
be  content  with  the  mace,  "since  to  execute 
finely  with  the  cue  sometimes  requires  the 
assumption  of  attitudes  which  are  not  becom- 
ing female  attire,  or  to  the  modesty  of  the 
sex."  Just  so.  By  all  means,  let  the  ladies, 
however  ambitious,  stick  to  the  mace,  even  if 
it  is  "  considered  merely  as  the  implement  for 
novices."     Perhaps  we  ought  to  condole  with 


CARDS,  CHESS,  AND  BILLIARDS.         II7 

the  ladies  on  the  distressing  dilemma  in  which 
this  places  them.  The  mace  confesses  awk- 
wardness ;  the  cue  is  forbidden.  They  are 
doomed  to  remain  forever  novices  in  the 
higher  art,  or  sacrifice  delicacy  to  ambition. 

But  what  is  the  game }  The  expert  player 
places  his  hand  on  the  table  a  few  inches  from 
the  ball,  and  resting  his  cue  upon  it  and  bend- 
ing over  to  look  along  the  stick,  studies  the 
situation  with  the  motionless  attitude  and 
fixed  gaze  of  a  hungry  toad  taking  aim  at  a 
fly.  Then  with  the  end  of  his  stick  he  strikes 
the  ball,  which,  if  his  calculations  are  correct, 
goes  in  a  certain  direction,  hits  another  ball, 
and  then  goes  somewhere  else.  And  this  is 
all.  It  is  true,  to  be  able  to  make  the  ball  go 
exactly  in  the  right  direction,  and  stop  at  the 
right  point,  requires,  as  our  author  declares, 
"  immense  practice ;"  yet  the  higher  achieve- 
ment attainable  is  to  cause  one  marble  to  hit 
another,  and  drop  into  a  pocket. 

This  statement  of  the  true  character  of  the 


Il8  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

game  is  about  all  that  needs  to  be  set  forth 
to  condemn  it  among  intelligent,  thoughtful 
people.  It  has  nothing  in  it  to  inform,  refine, 
or  in  any  way  improve  the  mind.  The  only 
mental  faculties  cultivated  are  those  which 
judge  of  distances,  angles,  and  muscular 
forces.  To  aim  at  skill  is  to  sacrifice  months 
and  years  of  valuable  time  to  a  very  mean 
ambition.  It  is  the  favorite  device  of  the 
saloon  and  the  grog-shop,  the  bait  to  entice 
men  from  their  homes  in  the  evening,  and 
keep  them  till  midnight,  drinking,  smoking, 
and  telling  indecent  stories.  There  is  method 
and  design  in  the  pother  which  the  newspa- 
pers make  over  matches  and  champions,  as 
if  the  honor  of  nations  were  involved  in  the 
success  of  those  who  volunteer  to  represent 
them  in  petty  contest.  It  is  expected  that 
the  idler  and  the  spendthrift  will  be  attracted 
to  the  place ;  and  in  the  crowd  the  seller  of 
alcohol  will  find  customers,  and  the  swindler 
victims.     Billiards  figure  very  low  in  the  scale 


CARDS,  CHESS,  AND  BILLIARDS,         II9 

of  amusements.  Associated  as  it  generally  is 
with  late  hours,  confined  air,  smoking  and 
drinking,  the  game  is  detrimental  to  health, 
to  morals,  and  to  mind.  Kept  clear  of  evil 
associations,  there  is  nothing  in  it  to  attract 
the  intelligent  and  the  thoughtful.  And  see- 
ing that  the  righteous  are  generally  called 
home  when  their  work  is  done,  the  professor 
of  religion,  who  can  find  nothing  better  to  do 
than  play  billiards,  need  not  expect  to  live 
long. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 
NOVELS  AND  NOVEL-READING. 

"  Of  makhtg  many  books  there  is  no  end,''''     Eccl.  xii,  12. 

WHAT  is  a  novel.?  A  recent  writer 
thus  defines  it:  A  novel  is  a  por- 
traiture of  "something  new  falling  within  the 
domain  of  fancy  or  imagination,  with  its  in- 
terest centering  in  love."  If  this  be  correct, 
it  would  seem  that  a  novel,  as  such,  is  neither 
good  nor  bad,  but  is  the  one  or  the  other  ac- 
cording to  its  own  individual  character.  To 
portray  something  new  is  certainly  not  wrong 
if  the  portraiture  be  true,  and  there  be  a  good 
reason  for  the  portrayal.  There  is  a  place, 
also,  for  fancy  and  imagination  in  the  legiti- 
mate operations   of  the  mind ;  nor  does   the 


122  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

fact  that  the  interest  centers  in  love  necessa- 
rily condemn  it.  True  love,  such  as  God  de- 
signed to  exist  among  the  families  of  men,  is 
a  golden  chain  which  binds  in  the  best  and 
pprest  friendship  known  on  earth.  Genuine, 
honest,  rational  love  needs  to  be  cultivated, 
not  rebuked  and  repressed.  It  needs  the  con- 
trolling and  formative  influences  of  intelli- 
gence, reason,  and  religion,  and  may,  there- 
fore, be  discussed  by  the  press  and  on  the 
platform  or  even  in  the  pulpit. 

And  yet  novel-reading  has  become  one  of 
the  great  vices  of  our  age.  Multitudes  care 
for  nothing  but  light  reading.  The  book- 
stores abound  with  works  of  fiction.  The 
records  of  our  public  libraries  show  that  there 
are  more  readers  in  this  department  than  any 
other — perhaps  rnore  than  in  all  the  rest. 
The  literature  which  finds  its  way  into  the 
hands  of  our  people,  as  they  journey  by  land 
or  water,  is  almost  invariably  fictitious.  Our 
weekly  periodicals,  secular  and  religious,  often 


NO VELS  AND  NO  VEL-READING.  1 23 

have  their  serial  story.  Our  Sunday  school 
libraries  have  been  overwhelmed  by  the  flood 
of  weak  and  washy  literature  till  scarce  a  ves- 
tige of  sober  history  or  real  biography  shows 
itself  above  the  surface  of  the  wild  wilderness 
of  waters.  A  whole  generation  of  young  peo- 
ple are  growing  up,  to  whom  solid  books  are 
unknown,  to  whom  the  great  historic  names 
of  the  past  are  but  a  sound,  and  whose  igno- 
rance of  the  world  of  fact  is  poorly  compen- 
sated by  their  acquaintance  with  the  world  of 
dreams. 

It  is  a  rule  in  political  economy  that  de- 
mand creates  supply.  As  all  kinds  of  readers 
addict  themselves  to  fiction,  so  all  sorts  of 
writers  press  into  this  wide  and  productive 
field,  and  exhibit  results  of  every  degree  of 
badness,  with  now  and  then  something  of 
better  quality.  It  is  not  easy  for  the  young 
to  find  their  way  through  this  labyrinth  of 
good  and  evil,  the  good  little  and  the  evil  in- 
finite.    The  safest  rule,  in  whose  application 


124  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

the  fewest  mistakes  will  be  made,  is  that  of 
TOTAL  ABSTINENCE.  To  declare  that  all  the 
wild  fruit  of  a  certain  forest  is  poisonous,  and 
to  prophecy  the  death  of  every  one  who  eats 
a  single  berry  there,  may  be  contrary  to 
truth ;  nevertheless,  if  nine  out  of  ten  of 
the  kinds  found  there  are  deadly,  and  none 
but  a  well-taught  observer  is  able  to  distin- 
guish between  the  good  and  the  evil,  the 
warning  to  be  given  to  the  inexperienced  is, 
"Touch  not,  taste  not." 

In  regard  to  novels  this  is  often  the  only 
available  rule.  But  if  we  are  required  to  give 
more  discriminating  advice,  there  are  four 
maxims  which  are  plain,  and,  if  faithfully  ad- 
hered to,  will,  I  think,  be  found  safe. 

I.  If  you  have  but  little  time  for  readingy 
spend  none  of  it  on  works  of  fiction. 

Your  success  in  life,  your  happiness,  use- 
fulness, and  safety  in  the  world  depend  upon 
your  intelligence,  your  good  sense,  your  moral 
character,  your  modes  of  living.     What  you 


NOVELS  AND  NOVEL-READING,  1 25 

are  to  be  and  what  you  are  capable  of  ac- 
complishing will  depend,  in  no  small  degree, 
upon  what  you  know.  You  require  solid  in- 
formation. You  need  to  learn  ten  thousand 
things  which  are  to  be  found  in  books.  Your 
usefulness  in  the  circles  to  which  you  belong 
and  your  position  in  the  community  are  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  degree  in  which 
you  improve  your  mind.  You  have  much  to 
do.  You  have  no  time  to  waste  on  counter- 
feit coin  while  golden  treasures  of  knowledge 
woo  you  on  every  side.  Read  your  Bibles. 
Read  history,  the  records  of  the  past,  and 
the  accounts  of  current  events.  Read  the 
biographies  of  good  men  and  women.  Read 
books  of  science.  Push  your  researches  in 
every  direction,  delve  in  every  mine  that 
opens  before  you.  Traverse  every  rich  field 
that  invites  your  footsteps.  DiscipHne  your 
mind,  store  your  memory  ;  train  your  will  to 
all  high  resolves.  If  your  lot  in  life  is  such 
that  little   time   can   be  given   to  intellectual 


126  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

culture,  do  not  waste  an  hour  on  the  idle 
dreams  of  the  novelists. 

2.  /;/  any  case  read  only  the  best  works  of 
fiction. 

Supposing  that  the  time  which  you  are 
able  to  devote  to  books  is  not  narrowed  down 
to  an  occasional  leisure  hour,  and  you  feel 
disposed  to  glance  at  the  department  of  fic- 
tion, read  only  the  best.  Books  are  compan- 
ions. Choose  your  company  wisely.  Where 
a  multitude  surround  you,  the  pious  and  the 
profane,  the  virtuous  and  the  vile,  the  refined 
and  the  brutish,  it  is  madness  to  associate 
with  all  that  come.  You  know  what  the  ef- 
fect upon  your  good  name  would  be  if  you 
were  seen  walking  arm  in  arm  with  those 
whose  very  presence  is  dishonor.  There  are 
books  so  vile  that  the  mere  possession  of 
them  is  fatal  to  reputation.  You  will  find 
people  whose  minds  are  so  empty,  and  whose 
•talk  is  so  frivolous,  that  the  time  spent  in 
their  society  is  lost.     There  are  many  books 


NOVELS  AND  NOVEL-READING.  12/ 

of  the  same  sort.  You  will  meet  still  other 
people  with  whom  you  can  not  spend  an 
hour  without  feeling  that  you  have  learned 
something  worth  knowing,  that  you  have  re- 
ceived an  impulse  in  the  direction  of  the  true, 
the  beautiful,  and  the  good,  and  that  you  are 
wiser,  purer,  stronger  because  of  the  inter- 
view. There  are  books  of  this  kind  also. 
For  the  same  reason,  then,  that  you  keep  the 
best  company  to  which  you  have  access,  read 
the  best  books  within  your  reach.  They  will 
influence  you  as  certainly  as  will  living  asso- 
ciates. 

There  are  some  few  works  of  fiction  which 
are  well  written  and  true  to  nature,  and  which 
inculcate  the  right  and  condemn  the  wrong. 
If  you  read  fiction  at  all,  read  these.  I  do 
not  name  them,  because  I  am  not  willing  to 
be  held  responsible  for  all  the  time  which 
might  possibly  be  spent  over  them  on  the 
plea  that  they  are  here  recommended.  If 
you   do   not   know   which   they   are,   you  will 


128  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

lose  nothing  by  waiting  till  you  are  better  in- 
formed. As  for  the  bad,  their  "name  is 
Legion." 

3.  In  all  cases  let  works  of  fiction  form  hit 
a  very  small  part  of  what  you  read. 

Read  only  the  best,  and  read  only  a  few- 
even  of  the  best.  Or,  if  you  want  a  more 
definite  rule,  read  ten  good,  substantial  works 
to  every  one  of  fiction,  however  good.  The 
best  works  of  imagination  go  but  a  little  way 
in  supplying  the  mental  ahment  which  you 
need.  You  can  not  live  on  the  odor  of  flow- 
ers, nor  build  up  strong  bone  and  muscle  out 
of  rainbows  and  moonbeams.  You  will  grow 
in  intelligence,  sense,  virtue,  practical  power 
for  good  only  by  means  of  solid  food.  Por- 
traitures of  "something  new,  falling  within 
the  domain  of  fancy,  with  their  interest  cen- 
tering in  love,"  may  please  for  the  moment, 
but  if  you  get  nothing  better  your  soul  will 
be  as  poor  and  lank  as  the  lean  kine  of  Pha- 
raoh's dream.     Confining  your  reading  of  this 


NOVELS  AND  NOVEL-READING. 


129 


sort  to  the  least  objectionable  of  the  class, 
you  must  add  another  restriction,  in  order  to 
be  safe,  and  confine  the  time  thus  spent  to 
your  leisure  moments — what  remains  after 
you  have  given  due  attention  to  better 
things. 

4.  Cease  wJiolly  to  read  fiction  the  momejtt 
yoii  find  that  it  begins  to  render  sttbstantial 
7'eading  distasteful,  and  the  common  duties  of 
life  irksome,  or  injure  you  in  any  way  in  mind 
or  morals. 

The  man  who  has  tampered  with  some  in- 
toxicating drug  until  an  artificial  want,  a  new, 
imperious  appetite,  has  been  created,  is  on  the 
road  to  ruin,  so  they  have  already  done  them- 
selves a  fearful  wrong  who  have  indulged  in 
the  intoxications  of  fiction,  until  they  are  rest- 
less and  unsatisfied  without  it,  and  unostenta- 
tious every-day  life,  such  as  belongs  to  the 
vast  majority  of  mortals,  seems  tame,  dull, 
void  of  interest,   so  that  the  mind  can  with 

difficulty  be  held  to  its  common-place  details 

9 


130  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

and  duties.  And  the  same  question  may  be 
made  a  test  in  both  cases.  What  effort  will 
it  cost  to  stop.''  Will  it  require  a  mighty 
struggle,  an  agony  of  soul,  a  summoning  of 
all  concentrated  power  of  will.?  Then  sum- 
mon the  power  and  form  the  high  resolve 
without  a  moment's  delay,  for  life  and  death 
tremble  in  the  balance.  Are  virtue  and 
honor  so  far  undermined  that  the  victim  is 
ready  to  take  refuge  in  hypocrisy  and  lies, 
denying  in  public  and  indulging  in  secret } 
Alas !  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  work  of  ruin 
is  already  done.  At  all  events,  only  one  hope 
remains.  There  must  be  a  quick  and  thor- 
ough reform,  a  sudden  sundering  of  the 
chains  which  bind  to  the  "body  of  death." 
In  the  matter  of  novels,  are  you  uncertain 
whether  the  point  of  peril  has  been  reached 
in  your  own  case.?  Try  yourself.  Lay  aside 
light  reading;  take  up  some  solid  work,  and 
see  if  you  can  so  interest  yourself  in  it  that 
you  keep  on  to  the  end  without  impatience, 


NO  VELS  A  ND  NO  VEL  -RE  A  DING.  1 3 1 

without  a  temptation  to  hurry  over  the  tire- 
some task.  If,  like  the  Hebrews'  in  the  wil- 
derness, you  find  it  a  weary  march  through  a 
dry  land,  where  you  are  haunted  at  every  step 
by  the  recollection  of  the  savory  flesh-pots 
which  you  have  left  behind  you,  be  assured 
that  you  can  not  escape  too  soon.  The  real 
question  is  whether  you  are  not  too  far  gone 
to  escape  at  all.  Error  in  regard  to  the  read- 
ing of  fiction  is  fraught  with  so  many  evils, 
that  the  rules  given,  stringent  as  they  may 
seem,  are  abundantly  justified. 

Let  our  young  people  be  constantly  on 
their  guard  against  the  mental  enslavement 
which  marks  the  confirmed  novel-reader. 
Common  novel-reading  is  a  fearful  evil,  and 
against  it  there  are  arguments  numerous  and 
weighty,  which  all  will  do  well  to  heed. 

I.  //  wastes  precious  time. 

By  universal  consent,  works  of  fiction  are 
called  "light  literature;"  and  the  name  is  cor-' 
rectly  applied.     To  produce  them  belongs  to 


132  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

light  thinkers,  men  and  women  whose  pur- 
poses, principles,  and  convictions  are  all 
light — the  light-weights  of  the  world  of  mind 
and  morals.  How  strangely  the  name  of 
Martin  Luther,  John  Wesley,  or  George 
Washington  would  sound  connected  with  the 
authorship  of  a  fanciful  story  whose  "interest 
centeres  in  love !"  The  names  which  illumine 
the  historic  page  with  the  purest  light  are 
those  which  it  would  amaze  us  to  find  con- 
nected with  the  authorship  of  ordinary  fiction. 
It  is  worth  while  to  pause  and  inquire  why 
we  would  be  surprised.  Is  not  this  the  solu- 
tion: that  men  of  real  greatness,  working  in 
thorough  earnest,  under  the  influence  of  pro- 
found conviction,  are  too  busy  with  the  events 
and  duties  of  the  age  in  which  they  live  to 
find  time  to  spin  out  of  nothing  a  dream  life 
for  the  amusement  of  idle  minds  ? 

It  is  evident  that  but  little  is  gained  by  the 
instructions  of  teachers  so  inferior  as  are  the 
great  mass  of  novel-writers.     Their  produc- 


NO  VELS  AND  NO  VEL-READING.         1 33 

tions  are  too  easy  reading  to  discipline  the 
mind.  They  aim  chiefly  to  amuse  the  reader, 
not  instruct,  nor  convince,  nor  raise  him  to 
the  height  of  a  great  purpose ;  and,  in  gen- 
eral, the  best  that  can  be  said  of  the  best  of 
them  is,  that  they  confer  pleasure  without  in- 
flicting injury.  But  whatever  may  be  the 
quality,  you  may  be  sure  that  excess  in  quan- 
tity is  injurious.  The  vast  majority  of  novel 
readers  are  young,  and  for  them  to  squander 
the  precious  hours  is  suicidal.  Youth,  wasted, 
ushers  in  a  feeble  middle  life  and  an  unhappy 
old  age.  They  who  sow  nothing  in  the  Spring 
will  lament  over  an  Autumn  which  brings  no 
fruit.  Novel-reading  is  simply  a  diversion,  a 
pastime,  and  to  spend  more  than  an  occa- 
sional hour  in  diversion,  however  innocent  it 
may  be  in  itself,  is  a  waste  of  time,  too  pre- 
cious to  be  thus  thrown  away. 

2.  Excessive  light  reading  injures  the  mind. 

The  novelist  seeks  to  bear  his  readers  along 
without  any  labor  on  their  part.     They  simply 


134  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

witness  the  action,  and  watch  the  unfolding 
of  the  plot.  The  author  amuses  them  with 
wit  and  humor ;  and,  if  he  can,  melts  them 
with  pathos,  or  charms  them  with  eloquent 
description.  He  is  the  performer,  and  they 
are  the  spectators.  If  he  is  one  of  the  best 
of  his  class,  they  may  improve  a  little  in  some 
branches  of  knowledge,  provided  they  are  con- 
tent to  read  slowly  enough  for  the  purpose. 
But  habitual  novel-readers  hurry  on  to  see 
"how  it  all  comes  out,"  seldom  pausing  to 
consider  the  force  of  a  figure,  or  the  beauty 
of  an  expression.  Ingenious  thought,  keen 
discrimination  in  depicting  character,  accurate 
descriptions  of  natural  scenery,  nice  points 
of  style,  are  lost  in  the  rush  of  words.  There 
is  a  headlong  race  of  event  after  event,  shad- 
ows and  light,  storm  and  calm,  and  at  last  an 
end,  a  rapid  panorama,  little  of  which  is  seen 
distinctly  while  it  is  passing,  and  still  less  is 
remembered  when  it  is  past.  The  intellect 
does    not    grow    strong    playing   with    straws 


NO  VELS  AND  NO  VEL-READING.  1 3  5 

thus,  where  there  is  no  exercise  of  the  judg- 
ment on  what  is  read,  no  effort  of  the  memory 
to  retain  any  thing.  The  novel-reader  that 
does  Uttle  or  nothing  but  lounge  about  with 
a  weak  dilution  of  literature  in  hand,  will  soon 
become  as  soft  and  flabby  in  mind  as  in  mus- 
cle, wholly  incapable  of  lofty  purposes  and 
worthy  deeds. 

3.  Excessive  light  readi^tg  tends  to  tinfit  for 
real  life. 

A  devourer  of  novels  seldom  has  an  appe- 
tite for  any  thing  else.  To  do  our  duty  well, 
we  must  have  our  thoughts  upon  it,  and  our 
minds  interested  in  it.  The  heart  and  the 
hands  must  go  together,  or  the  hands  will 
soon  tire,  and  do  their  work  indifferently. 
What  chance  is  there  for  the  student  who 
indeed  holds  Blackstone  or  Wood  before  his 
dreamy  eyes,  but  whose  thoughts  are  upon 
the  unfinished  romance  in  his  desk }  How 
can  the  daughter  at  home  find  happiness  in 
aiding  to  bear  the  burden  of  domestic  cares, 


136  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

while  her  mind  is  in  a  whirl  over  some  deli- 
cious love-story,  in  which  she  has  lost  her 
identity  in  that  of  the  fascinating  Lady  Some- 
thing, with  four  desperate  rivals  for  her  hand, 
and  the  crisis  of  her  fate  just  over-leaf? 

Works  of  fiction  would  be  less  doubtful 
reading  if  the  reader,  after  finishing  the  last 
page  of  the  story,  utterly  forgot  the  whole,  or 
remembered  it  only  as  we  remember  veritable 
history.  The  loss  in  that  case  would  be 
chiefly  loss  of  time.  But  as  things  are,  novel- 
readers  spend  many  a  precious  hour  in  dream- 
ing out  clumsy  little  romances  of  their  own,  in 
which  they  themselves  are  the  beautiful  ladies 
and  the  gallant  gentlemen  who  achieve  im- 
possibilities, suffer  unutterable  woe  for  a  sea- 
son, and  at  last  anchor  in  a  bo'undless  ocean 
of  connubial  bliss.  Nor  does  it  require  much 
previous  mental  cultivation  to  enable  one  to 
indulge  in  these  visionary  joys.  The  school- 
t)oy  and  school-girl,  the  apprentice,  the  seam- 
stress, the  girl  in  the  kitchen,  can  conjure  up 


NO  VELS  A  ND  NO  V EL- RE  A  DING.  1 3  7 

rosy  dreams  as  readily  as  other  people ;  and 
perhaps  more  readily,  as  it  requires  but  little 
reading  of  the  sort  to  render  them  impatient 
of  their  lot  in  life,  and  set  them  to  imagine 
something  that  looks  higher  and  better. 

In  fact,  the  Cinderella  of  the  old  nursery 
story  is  the  true  type  of  thousands  of  our 
novel-readers.  They  live  a  sort  of  double 
life — one  in  their  own  proper  persons,  and 
in  their  real  homes  ;  the  other  as  ideal  lords 
and  ladies  in  dream-land.  Ella,  sitting  among 
her  native  cinders,  is  a  very  prosaic  individual, 
addicted  to  exceedingly  prosaic  employments, 
and  fulfilling  a  destiny  far  removed  from  sub- 
limated romance.  But  touched  by  the  wand 
of  the  good  Fairy,  Ella  is  transfigured,  her 
coarse  garments  are  robes  of  magnificence, 
the  mice  are  prancing  steeds,  the  pumpkin  is 
a  coach,  and  she  rides  in  state,  the  admiration 
of  all  beholders,  and  weds  the  prince  trium- 
phantly. 

The  modern   Ella,   sitting  among  the  cin- 


138  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

ders,  has  indeed  no  good  Fairy  to  confer  sud- 
den splendors  upon  her ;  but  her  place  is  well 
supplied  by  sundry  periodicals,  designed  for 
just  this  style  of  readers.  And  so  Ella  in- 
vests her  six  cents  weekly,  and  reads,  and 
dreams.  According  to  the  flesh,  she  bears 
an  honest,  humble  name,  busies  herself  with 
a  cooking  stove,  or  a  noisy  sewing-machine, 
and  with  all  her  matrimonial  anglings,  per- 
haps has  never  a  nibble.  In  her  other  capac- 
ity she  is  the  Countess  of  Moonshine,  who 
dwells  in  a  Castle  of  Spain,  wears  a  coronet 
of  diamonds,  and  to  whom  ardent  lords  and 
smitten  princes  make  love  in  loftiest  elo- 
quence ;  and  she  is  blest.  But,  as  Napoleon 
once  observed,  there  is  only  a  step  between 
the  sublime  and  the  ridiculous.  At  any  mo- 
ment the  coach  of  state  may  relapse  into  its 
original  squash,  the  prancing  horses  again 
become  mice,  the  costly  array  turn  once  more 
to  rags ;  and  the  Countess,  sweeping  in  her 
trailing  robes  through  the  glittering  crowd  of 


NO  VELS  AND  NO  VEL-READING.  1 39 

admiring  lords  and  envious  ladies,  subside 
into  her  former  simple  self,  with  the  hide- 
ous onions  to  be  peeled,  or  the  clattering 
machine  to  be  kept  in  motion. 

How  can  the  two  parts  of  this  double  exist- 
ence harmonize  ?  How  is  it  possible  for  those 
whose  minds  are  thus  bewildered,  and  who 
have  formed  this  inveterate  habit  of  indulg- 
ing in  sentimental  reverie,  to  engage  heartily 
in  the  performance  of  commonplace  duties  ? 
The  inevitable  result  of  excessive  novel-read- 
ing is  a  distaste,  if  not  an  incapacity,  for  the 
sober  thought  and  patient  eftort  which  are  the 
price  of  success  in  every  worthy  path  of  life. 

4.  Excessive  novel-reading  creates  an  over- 
growth of  the  passions. 

The  novel-reader  naturally,  and  perhaps  un- 
consciously, becomes  identified  with  the  per- 
sonage in  the  story  who  is  nearest  to  what  he 
or  she  v/ould  like  to  be.  With  the  book  in  his 
hand,  and  his  whole  soul  for  the  time  being 
wrapped  up  in  the  exciting  histor}-,  the  young 


140  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

man  ceases  to  be  the  apprentice,  the  clerk,  the 
student,  the  farmer's  boy,  the  plain  John  or 
Peter  of  his  real  self  He  is  merged  in  the 
hero  of  the  story,  handsome  in  person,  brill- 
iant in  mind,  endowed  with  every  excellence, 
and  bearing  a  name  of  at  least  three  syllables. 
He  becomes  the  ardent  suitor  of  the  beautiful 
lady,  the  heiress  of  the  immense  estate.  The 
burning  words  in  which  love  is  portrayed  are 
his  words.  The  whole  thing  becomes  so  far  a 
reality  that  it  has  something  of  the  force  of  a 
genuine  experience ;  and  he  feels  happy,  or 
grows  melancholy  with  the  varying  futures 
of  his  imaginary  passion. 

Now,  if  Peter  be  a  boy  of  fifteen,  it  is  toler- 
ably evident  that  he  is  advancing  a  little  too 
fast  in  his  sentimental  career.  Like  a  certain 
variety  of  pears  described  in  the  fruit  books, 
there  is  danger  of  his  being  rotten  before  he 
is  ripe.  He  is  meditating  matrimony  when 
he  has  scarcely  got  beyond  the  limits  of 
marbles  and  green  apples.     He  looks  around 


NOVELS  AND  NOVEL-READING.  1 41 

at  the  little  girls  to  see  which  of  them  is  the 
princess  in  disguise ;  and  soon  imagines  that 
he  is  desperately  in  love  with  some  Httle  dam- 
sel in  the  neighborhood,  and  seeing  that  in 
this  dreadful  world  disappointment  is  always 
possible,  he  begins  to  canvass  the  most  pic- 
turesque and  pathetic  modes  of  committing 
suicide,  in  case  the  ferocious  uncle  should 
interfere,  as  he  did  in  the  book. 

The  young  lady  is  similarly  affected.  She 
fancies  herself  the  beautiful  heroine  of  the 
story,  rich,  accomplished,  and,  romantically, 
wretched.  She,  too,  begins  to  look  about  for 
the  model  lover  who  lays  his  hand  upon  his 
heart,  lifts  his  tearful  face  toward  heaven,  and 
says  pretty  things.  She  feels  disdain  for  the 
plain  young  men  of  her  acquaintance,  and 
perhaps  fixes  her  eyes  upon  some  flashy 
stranger,  whose  unknown  antecedents  give 
her  a  chance  to  invest  him  with  all  the  im- 
possible perfections  her  romantic  fancy  is  able 
to  invent. 


142  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

Now,  this  State  of  things  has  its  ridiculous 
side,  but  it  is  not  heaUhy  nor  safe.  The 
effects  are  too  serious  to  be  passed  by  with  a 
smile.  The  inveterate  habit  of  day-dreaming 
thus  created  absorbs  the  thoughts,  destroys 
the  mental  balance,  impairs  sound  judgment, 
and  produces  tendencies  which  are  very  far 
from  the  views  and  feelings,  aims  and  princi- 
ples, on  which  usefulness  and  honor  in  the 
world  depend.  There  is  an  overgrowth  of  the 
passions,  an  exaltation  of  marriage  out  of  all 
due  proportion  to  other  sources  of  rational 
happiness,  an  overestimate  of  beauty,  wealth, 
and  the  other  accidentals  of  human  life ;  and 
a  corresponding  underestimate  of  the  value  of 
piety,  industry,  and  the  sober  virtues  which 
are  "  in  the  sight  of  God  of  great  price."  It 
is  a  vice  of  novelists  as  a  class,  to  exalt  love 
and  matrimony  above  all  else,  and  thus  create 
in  susceptible  youth  the  habit  of  thinking  and 
dreaming  of  matrimony  above  all  else.  Thus 
the   novelist   literally   "turns    the   heads"   of 


NO  VELS  AND  NO  VEL-READING.  1 43 

young  people,  inasmuch  as  he  places  foremost 
and  uppermost  the  faculty  which  the  phre- 
nologists locate  low  down  in  the  back  of  the 
brain. 

5.  The  habit  of  novel-reading  creates  a  mor- 
bid love  of  excitement  somewhat  akin  to  the 
imperious  thirst  of  the  inebriate. 

The  victim  of  drugs  does  not  love  opium 
or  alcohol  because  of  its  taste  or  smell.  The 
effect  which  he  covets  is,  in  truth,  a  mental 
effect.  He  resorts  to  the  drug  that  he  may 
feel  rich,  powerful,  exalted,  and  happy,  while, 
in  reality,  he  is  "wretched,  and  miserable,  and 
poor,  and  blind,  and  naked."  The  victim  of 
novels  aims  at  the  same  thing  in  another  way, 
by  applying  the  bane  directly  to  the  mind  it- 
self 

But  the  inebriate  soon  finds  that  in  order 
to  produce  the  desired  effect  he  must,  from 
time  to  time,  increase  the  strength  of  the 
dose.  He  adds  to  the  quantity.  Then  from 
wine  he  goes  on  to    brandy,  and   from    that 


144  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

to  absinthe,  drugging  his  deadened  brain  to 
the  verge  of  death,  to  gain,  from  time  to  time, 
a  feeble  return  of  the  momentary  joys  which 
once  a  very  Uttle  of  his  chosen  stimulus  had 
power  to  impart.  The  experience  of  the  con- 
firmed novel-reader  is  similar.  The  simple 
tales  of  innocent  love  which  interest  the 
beginner  soon  become  commonplace.  They 
fail  to  excite  the  fancy  or  stir  the  emotions, 
and  then  something  stronger  must  be  had. 
Quiet  love  and  ordinary  incident  must  give 
place  to  fierce  rivalry  and  jealousy,  hate,  re- 
venge, and  murder. 

The  editors  of  certain  periodicals  belong- 
ing to  this  style  of  literature  seem  to  have 
decided  that  the  public  mind  in  general  has 
reached  this  final  stage.  I  confess  that  my 
knowledge  of  these  periodicals  is  not  exten- 
sive, being  confined  to  what  is  gained  by  a 
passing  glance  at  windows  and  hand-bills, 
where  their  pictorial  baits  are  thrust  out  to 
entrap  buyers.     The  pictures  which  greet  the 


NO  VELS  AND  NO  VEL-READING.  1 45 

eyes  of  passengers  are  almost  invariably  pic- 
tures of  somebody  shooting  or  stabbing  some- 
body. The  last  embellishment  which  I  have 
noticed,  however,  is  a  cut  of  somebody  strang- 
ling the  other  somebody  with  his  naked  hands. 
This  is  doubtless  still  more  delightfully  horri- 
ble to  the  admirers  of  this  style  of  writing, 
and  calculated  to  thrill  them  with  a  new  sen- 
sation. When  the  mind  has  become  so  viti- 
ated that  it  turns  away  not  only  from  all  solid 
readyig,  but  even  from  the  less  objectionable 
works  of  fiction,  to  revel  in  nauseous  descrip- 
tions of  lawless  passions  and  bloody  deeds, 
and  is  so  besotted  with  them  that  every  thing 
else  is  void  of  interest,  and  every  duty  irk- 
some, how  far  is  it  removed  from  some  of  the 
worst  evils  of  drunkenness  or  even  of  insan- 
ity itself.-*  How  much  worse  is  the  victim  of 
alcohol  or  opium  than  the  victim  of  mental 
intoxication  t 

6.   The  habitual  reading  of  novels  tends  to  les- 
sen the  reader  s  horror  of  crime  and  zuickedness. 


146  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

Crime  is  seldom  actually  committed  until 
the  mind  has  become  familiar  with  the 
thoughts  of  it.  The  books  which  picture 
passion  and  crime  keep  the  readers  in  closest 
contact  with  evil  till  the  horror  with  which 
they  first  shrank  from  it  is  gone.  Moreover, 
these  books  are  sometimes  written  to  serve  a 
special  purpose.  An  author  may  be  given  to 
some  sin  which  places  him  under  the  ban  of 
respectable  society.  He  grows  restive  and 
malicious  under  the  frowns  of  the  good.  He 
writes  a  book  in  which  his  own  vice  is  white- 
washed into  a  sort  of  semi-respectability,  and 
made  merely  an  amiable  weakness,  while 
some  Church  member  of  sounding  profes- 
sions, or  perhaps  a  Christian  minister,  turns 
out  to  be  the  villain  of  the  plot.  Thus  in 
one  character  we  see  a  villain  bearing  the 
Christian  name,  and  in  another  a  hidden  vice 
united  with  so  many  shining  qualities  that 
the  moral  deformity  is  hidden  by  the  splen- 
dors  that   are   thrown    around   it.     Thus    the 


NO  VELS  AND  NO  VEL -READING.  \  47 

reader  is  trained  to  look  suspiciously  upon 
the  virtuous  and  smile  upon  the  vicious.  If 
he  is  tempted  in  the  direction  of  any  particu- 
lar wickedness,  his  memory  will  easily  supply 
him  with  some  model  from  the  books,  who 
was  given  to  the  same  thing,  and  was  a  noble 
character,  nevertheless,  the  admiration  of  all 
about  him,  generous,  brave,  and  in  the  end 
successful  and  happy.  The  inference  of  the 
tempted  one  is  naturally  this :  that  he  too 
can  yield  and  be  admired,  and  in  the  end  be 
happy. 

Aside  from  the  fictitious  respectability 
which  vice  gains  by  being  portrayed  as  not 
incompatible  with  the  possession  of  high  and 
generous  qualities,  needless  familiarity  with 
the  idea  of  crime  lessens  the  horror  with 
which  we  regard  it.  The  more  suicides  in 
any  community  the  more  easy  it  is  to  commit 
suicide,  when  rage  and  disappointment  sup- 
ply the  temptation.  In  communities  where 
every    man    goes    armed,    and    every   eye    is 


148  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

familiar  with  scenes  of  blood,  small  provoca- 
tions lead  to  murder.  It  is  not  irrational  to 
assume  that  one  reason  why  play-actors,  as  a 
class,  tend  to  low  morals  is  because  it  is  a 
part  of  their  regular  business  to  personate 
immoral  characters  on  the  stage  ;  and  when 
the  mind  has  become  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  idea,  and  the  lips  familiar  with  the  lan- 
guage of  wickedness,  the  step  from  shams  to 
reality  is  short  and  easy. 

Thus  the  press  becomes  an  apostle  of  un- 
righteousness when  it  lends  its  power  to 
make  the  public  mind  familiar  with  all  the 
phases  of  depravity.  He  that  delights  to 
dwell  upon  the  nauseous  details  is  not  mor- 
ally safe,  and  the  vice  which  furnishes  his 
choice  reading  is  the  very  one  into  which  he 
is  liable  to  fall.  The  refined  and  the  pure 
shrink  with  loathing  from  needless  contact 
with  the  things  which  they  condemn  and 
abhor.  I  believe  that  the  fearful  multiplica- 
tion of  tragic  crimes  in  our  own  day  is  due, 


NO  VELS  A ND  NO  VEL-READING,         1 49 

in  no  small  degree,  to  two  causes — one  the 
too  general  circulation  of  a  corrupt  literature, 
which  familiarizes  the  reader  with  all  that  is 
detestable  and  infamous  in  character  and  con- 
duct, the  other-  the  common  use  of  drugged 
liquors,  which  fire  the  brain  with  a  wilder 
frenzy  than  even  that  which  is  produced  by 
alcohol,  and  drive  men  to  their  doom  with  a 
still  more  powerful,  relentless  force.  In  brief, 
the  increased  prevalence  of  gross  forms  of 
wickedness  is  due  to  a  general  poisoning, 
mental  and  physical,  which  fills  the  minds 
and  the  veins  of  its  victims  with  a  more 
deadly  venom  than  we  have  hitherto  known. 

An  extract  from  a  religious  periodical, 
which  comes  to  hand  while  I  am  writing, 
corroborates  the  first  part  of  the  statement 
made. 

"A  young  man — J.  H.  W. — committed  su- 
icide recently  in  Indianapolis.  He  left  a  let- 
ter to  his  brother,  in  which  he  says:  'I 
believe  that   if  I   had   never  read  a  novel   I 


150  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

should  now  be  on  the  high  road  to  fortune; 
but,  alas!  I  was  allowed  to  read  the  vilest 
kind  of  novels  when  I  was  eight  or  nine 
years  old.  If  good  books  had  been  furnished 
me,  and  no  bad  ones,  I  should  have  read  the 
good  books  with  the  same  zest  that  I  did 
the  bad.  Persuade  all  persons  over  whom 
you  have  any  influence  not  to  read  novels.' 
The  Ordinary  of  Newgate  Prison,  in  his  re- 
port to  the  Lord  Mayor,  represents  what  a 
fruitful  source  of  crime  the  Jack  Sheppard 
and  Paul  Clifford  style  of  novels  has  been 
among  the  youth  of  England.  Inquiring  into 
the  causes  which  brought  many  lads  of  re- 
spectable parentage  to  the  city  prison,  he  dis- 
covered that  all  these  boys,  without  one  ex- 
ception, had  been  in  the  habit  of  reading 
those  cheap  periodicals  which  are  now  pub- 
lished for  the  alleged  instruction  and  amuse- 
ment of  the  youth  of  both  sexes." 

7.  Excessive  devotion  to  fictitious  reading  is 
totally  at  variance  ivitJi  Scriptural  piety. 


NO  VELS  A ND  NO  VEL-READING.         1 5  I 

This  needs  neither  proof  nor  illustration. 
Genuine  piety  takes  hold  of  the  heart,  and 
draws  the  thoughts  and  the  affections  toward 
God,  and  makes  duty  the  source  of  the  sweet- 
est enjoyment.  But  when  the  novel  usurps 
the  place  of  the  Bible ;  when  secret  prayer  is 
hurried  over,  or  wholly  neglected,  because  of 
a  burning  desire  to  know  what  comes  next  in 
the  story  ;  when  meditation  on  divine  things 
is  forgotten  in  endless  day-dreams  of  love  and 
worldly  splendor;  or,  worse  still,  when  real 
life  is  thrown  into  the  shade  by  the  unreal, 
and  made  to  appear  mean  and  insipid ;  when 
the  action  of  conscience  and  sober  reason  is 
swept  aside  by  the  wild  delirium  of  mental 
intoxication,  what  result  can  we  look  for  save 
apostasy  and  final  ruin  t 

While  I  contemplate  these  things,  I  confess 
that  I  am  almost  ready  to  recant  the  former 
part  of  this  chapter,  and  insert  in  the  place 
of  it  a  rigid  iron  rule  for  the  guidance  of  all, 
young  and  old,  learned  and  unlearned :  Total 


152  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

ABSTINENCE  FROM  NOVEL-READING  HENCE- 
FORTH AND  FOREVER.  Surely,  there  is  abun- 
dant cause  for  the  rule  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  which^  warns  all  her  com- 
municants to  abstain  from  "reading  those 
books  which  do  not  tend  to  the  knowledge 
or  love  of  God." 


yr^^ 


CHAPTER    IX. 

SOCIAL    GATHERINGS. 

^^How  can  one  be  warm  alone?''''     Eccl.  iv,  ii. 

TIME  would  fail  me  to  examine  the 
numerous  and  diversified  amusements 
practiced  in  various  parts  of  our  land.  Some 
are  local;  others  are  known  every-where. 
Some  are  right  and  wise;  some  are  otherwise. 
Some  are  intellectual  and  refined  ;  others  are 
mere  noisy  romps.  Of  many  of  the  older 
sort  the  chief  end  was  kissing.  This  latter 
feature  may  not  have  been  particularly  objec- 
tionable in  little  neighborhood  gatherings  in 
the  country,  where  every  body  had  known 
every  body  else  all   their  lives,  and  half  the 

young  people  in  the  room  were  cousins.     The 

153 


154  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

reader,  however,  will  doubtless  agree  in  the 
opinion  that  in  more  general  assemblies  it  is 
not  over  refined,  and  may  well  give  place  to 
something  else  of  less  doubtful  propriety. 

To  go  through  the  whole  list  of  these  di- 
versions, and  pronounce  upon  the  merits  of 
each,  would  be  tedious  and  useless.  My  aim 
has  been  to  discuss  principles,  and  then,  in 
the  light  of  those  principles,  to  examine  some 
of  the  more  objectionable  diversions  now 
pleading  for  popular  favor.  If  those  princi- 
ples are  as  plain  as  I  take  them  to  be,  it  will 
not  be  difficult  to  apply  them  to  any  new 
candidate  for  our  suffrages.  The  reader,  nev- 
ertheless, may  object  to  an  abrupt  close  of 
the  discussion.  He  may  say  that  this  series 
of  trials  and  condemnations  is  not  enough, 
and  that  he  is  now  waiting  to  be  informed  in 
regard  to  the  recreations  which  are  allowable 
and  right;  that  having  been  warned  against 
the  forbidden  fruit,  he  would  now  like  to  see 
the  other  trees,  of  which  he  may  freely  eat. 


SOCIAL  GATHERINGS.  1 55 

The  suggestion  is  not  without  force ;  and 
yet  it  will  require  but  a  moment's  reflection 
to  make  it  clear  that  I  can  not  comply  with 
it.  To  attempt  to  make  a  mere  list  of  the 
names  of  rational  recreations  would,  for  many 
reasons,  be  unwise.  In  some  cases  games  and 
amusements  are  local,  and  to  readers  belong- 
ing elsewhere  the  mere  name  would  convey 
no  information.  The  same  name  is  also  ap- 
plied to  different  diversions  in  different  locali- 
ties, and,  therefore,  approval  or  censure  would 
be  misunderstood  and  misapplied.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  a  simple  list  of  amusements  to  be 
condemned,  and  another  list  of  those  ap- 
proved, would  be  of  little  service. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  I  should  attempt  to 
escape  misconstruction  by  describing  fully 
the  amusements  condemned  or  approved,  the 
whole  plan  of  this  little  volume  would  be 
changed,  and  it  would  become  properly  a 
Book  of  Diversions  instead  of  a  discussion 
of  principles.     That  such   a  work  might  be 


156  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS, 

written — possibly  not  in  vain — is  not  de- 
nied ;  but  it  is  no  part  of  my  plan  to  write  it. 
Nevertheless,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  offer  a  few 
practical  suggestions. 

Permit  me  to  say,  first  of  all,  that  if  any 
of  my  readers  have  nothing  useful  to  do — no 
solid  purpose  in  life,  no  proper  employment, 
nor  desire  for  any — they  are  counted  out  of 
this  discussion.  The  idle,  the  frivolous,  the 
useless  have  no  right  to  recreation.  They 
must  reform  their  aimless,  empty  lives,  and 
by  industry  earn  the  privilege  of  rest  and  re- 
laxation before  they  are  entitled  even  to  hold 
an  opinion  on  the  subject.  Let  me  add  that 
no  diversion,  no  amusement  can  impart  more 
than  a  momentary  pleasure  to  the  indolent 
and  the  listless.  A  degree  of  hunger  alone 
can  prepare  a  rnan  fully  to  enjoy  his  food. 
It  is  the  sleep  of  the  laboring  man  that  is 
Bweet.  True  recreation  involves  the  idea  of 
rest ;  relief,  pleasant  change  of  occupation. 
So  the  active,  the  busy,  the  industrious  alone 


SOCIAL  GATHERINGS,  157 

truly  enjoy  recreation.  They  who  make 
amusement  their  only  pursuit  will  soon  find 
it  utter  weariness.  For  such  I  have  only 
pity,  and  for  them  I  am  not  writing. 

But  the  active  and  the  industrious,  who 
"  redeem  the  time,"  are  entitled  to  their  hours 
and  modes  of  recreation.  So  far  from  deny- 
ing it  to  be  their  privilege,  I  proclaim  it  to 
be  their  duty.  The  time  and  the  manner, 
must,  of  course,  be  adapted  to  their  varying 
circumstances.  The  school-boy  and  school- 
girl need  active  exercise  out-of-doors,  in  the 
light  of  the  sun,  else  they  are  "liable  to  grow 
up  colorless  and  spindling,  like  vegetables 
which  have  sprouted  in  the  cellar.  Every 
one,  older  or  younger,  whose  mind  toils  while 
the  muscles  are  inactive,  needs  the  sunbeams 
and  the  breeze.  They  whose  employment,  on 
the  contrary,  taxes  the  muscles,  while  the 
mind  is  comparatively  inactive,  require  modes 
of  recreation  which  spur  the  intellect,  quicken 
the  imagination,  and  store  the  memory  with 


158  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

rich  treasures  of  thought.  Those  whose  daily 
avocation  confines  their  thoughts  to  a  narrow- 
circle  must  find  a  wider  range  elsewhere,  and 
exercise  their  wings  in  longer  flights.  They 
who  work  alone  and  in  silence,  need  society ; 
and  those  spending  much  of  their  time  in  a 
crowd  will  profit  by  an  occasional  hour  of 
quiet,  solitary  meditation.  It  was  a  curious 
habit  of  the  late  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  of 
Princeton,  to  spend  the  hour  of  evening  twi- 
light alone  in  his  study,  sitting  in  silent 
thought  amid  the  deepening  shadows.  Who 
will  say  that  it  was  not  wise  t  What  lofty 
argument,  what  profound  knowledge  of  spirit- 
ual things,  what  emotions  of  divine  love  and 
adoration  may  not  have  been  drawn  thus  from 
the  well  of  silence  and  quiet  waiting } 

The  chief  recreation  of  the  world  at  large 
is  coiiversatio7i.  Talking  is  the  joy  of  the 
whole  earth.  It  is  one  of  the  great  employ- 
ments of  life.  Our  utterances  are  often  more 
important — do  more   good  and  evil    than  our 


SOCIAL  GATHERINGS.  1 59 

deeds.  All  human  wisdom,  knowledge,  senti- 
ment, wit,  fancy,  flow  in  the  channel  of  speech. 
By  words  truth  conquers,  reforms  progress, 
mind  acts  upon  mind,  heart  reaches  heart, 
soul  converses  with  soul.  The  lips  may  utter 
golden  speech,  or  drip  with  the  poison  of  asps. 
Human  breath  can  come  like  the  breezes  of 
Paradise,  or  blast  like  the  deadly  sirocco  of 
the  hot  desert.  Aside  from  the  deep  joy  of 
worship,  and  the  hope  of  eternal  life,  there  is 
no  happiness,  purer,  richer,  better  than  that 
which  springs  from  words.  And  there  is 
little  true  recreation  which  does  not  make 
conversation  one  of  its  chief  features,  and 
rely  upon  it  as  its  great  charm. 

Conversation  implies  social  life.  And  here, 
in  regard  to  social  gatherings,  I  will  make  a 
suggestion  which  I  am  persuaded  that  my 
readers  will  applaud  with  united  voices,  and, 
I  fear,  as  unanimously  disregard  in  practice. 
Our  social  gatherings  are  apt  to  be  too  formal, 
too  expensive,   too   large   to   secure   the   end 


l60  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

which  we  have  in  view.  To  give  a  "great 
party  "  once  or  twice  a  year,  and  astonish  the 
whole  community  by  the  splendor  of  the 
show,  is  rather  a  poor  way  to  cultivate  genu- 
ine friendship.  It  is  often  a  fearful  undertak- 
ing to  those  who  give  it,  and  not  very  satisfac- 
tory to  those  who  attend.  Long  and  anxious 
debate  settles  on  the  list  of  the  invited  ;  and 
when  it  is  too  late  to  remedy  errors,  it  is  dis- 
covered that  somebody  has  been  forgotten. 
The  worry  about  the  invitations,  the  arrange- 
ments, and  the  weather,  is  a  fearful  tax  upon 
the  time  and  temper  for  weeks  beforehand ; 
and  when  the  eventful  evening  comes  the  fear 
that  all  will  not  "  pass  off  smoothly "  keeps 
the  host,  and  especially  the  hostess,  in  a 
tremor  of  excitement,  which  culminates  with 
the  assembling  of  the  company,  and  finds  re- 
lief in  their  departure.  Of  the  multitude  who 
move  uneasily  from  room  to  room,  it  often 
happens  that  the  majority  are  little  more  than 
mere   acquaintances  of  the  entertainers,  and 


SOCIAL  GATHERINGS.  l6l 

of  each  other.  Some  are  invited  because  we 
know  them  well,  and  love  their  society ;  oth- 
ers, because  they  gave  an  entertainment  some 
time  ago,  and  an  invitation  in  return  for  theirs 
is  a  sort  of  debt  of  honor,  even  when  we  sus- 
pect that  their  courtesy  was  only  a  little 
device  whereby  they  were  aiming  to  get  into 
a  new  circle.  Sometimes  the  invitations  are 
extended  so  as  to  include  some  who  are  al- 
most strangers,  simply  because  a  certain  num- 
ber must  be  reached,  or  the  affair  will  be 
pronounced  inferior  to  somebody  else's  party. 
There  is  no  chance  for  genuine  conversation  ; 
and  little  is  heard  save  commonplace  remarks 
about  the  crowd  and  the  heat,  or  inquiries  in 
regard  to  the  old  gentleman  with  the  spectacles, 
or  the  young  lady  with  the  curls.  Some  fail 
to  come,  whose  absence  annoys  and  vexes  ;  and 
others  arrive  first  and  stay  last,  whose  absence 
could  have  been  borne  without  a  pang.  Here 
is  one  whose  sharp  eyes  and  sharper  tongue 
are  the  terror  of  the  town,  and  who  goes  prey- 


1 62  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

ing  about,  making  mental  notes  of  every  small 
mishap,  and  every  little  awkward  thing,  and 
laying  up  ammunition  for  a  gossiping  cam- 
paign. There  is  another,  who  sees  that  his 
or  her  turn  to  give  the  entertainment  is  not 
far  off,  and  who  is  carefully  estimating  the 
extent  of  the  preparations  to  be  made,  and 
calculating  the  expenses  to  be  incurred,  in 
order  to  be  equal  to  the  rest,  or,  if  ambitious, 
to  outdo  them. 

I  do  not  wish  to  visit  these  things  with 
ridicule.  They  have  some  good  features,  as 
well  as  defects.  They  are  worth  something, 
perhaps,  though  not  all  that  they  cost.  And 
yet  there  is  "  a  more  excellent  way."  If  we 
invite  at  one  time  no  larger  a  number  than 
our  parlors  will  seat,  and  we  bring  our  friends 
together  for  a  good,  social,  comfortable,  leis- 
urely talk,  there  might  be  less  of  display ; 
but  would  there  not  be  more  of  genuine  en- 
joyment }  Suppose,  also,  that  the  company 
be  invited   by  families,   including  the  young 


SOCIAL  GATHERINGS.  1 63 

and  the  old,  the  parents  and  the  children,  the 
married  and  the  unmarried.  Let  the  grand- 
sires  draw  their  arm  chairs  toward  each  other 
and  pour  into  each  other's  ear-trumpets  the 
reminiscences  of  other  da3^s,  and  laugh  again 
over  the  old  oft-repeated  stories.  Let  the 
little  children,  down  on  the  floor  by  their  side, 
discourse  of  tops  or  dolls,  while  middle  age 
reasons  on  public  events,  or  discusses  family 
matters,  and  the  young  people  are  gathered 
around  the  piano  or  the  book  table ;  and  as  each 
drifts  about  on  the  social  current,  the  specta- 
cles and  the  curls  impend  over  the  same  book 
or  picture,  and  the  ear-trumpet  be  found  gath- 
ering up  the  voices  that  chatter  over  the  toys. 
Thus  there  might  be  true  social  pleasure  with- 
out anxiety  or  envy,  without  present  uneasi- 
ness, or  heart-burnings  afterward.  Thus  the 
aged  would  be  cheered  by  the  vivacity  of 
youth  ;  and  the  gayety  of  youth  be  tempered 
by  the  wisdom  of  age. 

Or,  if  any   one  fancies   doing  things   on  a 


1 64  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

larger  scale,  let  as  many  be  invited  as  the 
house  will  hold  comfortably;  and  instead  of 
coming  at  midnight  to  stay  till  morning,  let 
the  company  assemble  early  in  the  evening. 
And  let  there  be  music,  and  mirth,  and  laugh- 
ter, and  leisurely  comfortable  interchange  of 
ideas,  discourse  that  carries  no  sting  and 
leaves  no  wound,  but  fosters  gentle  manners 
and  lasting  friendships.  If  the  host  chooses 
thus  to  manifest  his  hospitality,  let  there  be  a 
.repast  as  good  as  need  be  ;  but  excluding  all 
that  can  intoxicate.  Moreover,  before  the 
guests  separate,  let  a  few  moments  be  spent 
in  praise  and  prayer,  according  to  the  pious 
example  of  our  fathers.  And  let  midnight 
see  all  the  guests  safe  at  home.  Thus  the 
morrow  will  not  find  them  jaded  in  body  and 
mind,  and  irritable  in  temper,  but  clear  in 
brain  and  warm  in  heart,  with  a  tendency  to 
smile  all  day  long  over  the  pleasant  recollec- 
tions of  an  evening  thus  innocently  spent. 
I  own  that  I  am  not  sanguine  in  regard  to 


SOCIAL  GATHERINGS.  1 65 

the  popularity  of  my  proposed  reform,  espe- 
cially in  fashionable  quarters.  Young  men 
who  in  the  language  of  the  day  are  called 
"fast,"  will  pronounce  this  way  of  giving  a 
party  decidedly  "slow."  Mrs.  Fitzshoddy 
sees  that  this  mode  of  procedure  will  materi- 
ally lessen  her  chances  to  display  her  newly 
acquired  splendors,  and  thus  totally  extinguish 
her  aristocratic  neighbor  over  the  way,  who 
failed  to  return  her  call  five  years  ago.  Fitz- 
shoddy himself  has  serious  misgivings.  He 
looks  up  at  the  social  heights  he  would  fain 
ascend,  and  shakes  his  head  despondingly, 
"That  is  not  the  way  them  fellows  does 
things,  and  you  won't  get  among  them  unless 
you  do  as  they  do.  They  have  a  crowd,  and 
a  big  fiddle,  and  a  dance,  and  a  long  table 
with  a  wheelbarrow  load  of  silver  and  things 
on  it,  and  lots  of  wine,  and  all  that.  You 
can  't  invite  them  to  a  hum-drum  tea-drinking 
that  winds  up  with  psalm-singing  and  prayer. 
They  would  think  it  was  somebody's  funeral," 


1 66  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

Miss  Arabella,  too,  who  has  of  late  given 
her  whole  mind  to  the  devising  of  gear  for  the 
outside  of  her  head — a  cunning  piece  of  strat- 
egy to  divert  attention  from  the  state  of 
things  within — dreads  so  much  conversation. 
"People  get  to  talking  of  things  that  you 
never  heard  of,  you  know,  and  books  that  you 
never  read,  and  it  is  so  embarrassing,  you 
know."  And  then  she  absolutely  trembles 
when  she  thinks  of  "  Pa's  "  bad  grammar,  and 
his  habit  of  shaking  the  windows  with  gigan- 
tic laughter  at  his  own  jokes.  Many,  too,  will 
admit  the  evils  of  present  social  customs,  but 
be  afraid  to  lead  in  innovations.  Some  will 
feel  that  to  refuse  to  give  a  grand  party,  after 
having  attended  a  number  among  their  ac- 
quaintances, will  look  very  much  like  repudia- 
tion. Still,  I  doubt  not  that  the  intelligent 
and  the  conscientious  will  agree  that  what  I 
have  proposed  is,  as  it  has  been  already  styled, 
"  the  more  excellent  way."  I  know  that  it  will 
be  hard  to  make  the  giddy  believe  that  there 


SOCIAL  GATHERINGS.  16/ 

is  much  enjoyment  to  be  found  in  these  quiet 
ways.  They  want  a  crowd,  and  noise,  and 
commotion.  And  in  this  they  judge  amiss. 
This  crazy  rush  after  excitement  defeats  itself. 
As  simple  food  and  regular  habits  best  pro- 
mote health,  so  simple  pleasures  best  promote 
genuine  happiness.  The  joys  of  wine  are  not 
to  be  compared  with  the  cailm  peace  and  self- 
mastery  which  belong  to  the  temperate.  The 
whirl  of  the  dizzy  dance,  the  wild  excitement 
of  the  race-course,  the  sensational  tricks  of 
the  theater,  the  whole  circle  of  vices  and  fash- 
ionable follies  are  poor  in  their  results,  com- 
pared with  the  better  pleasures  which  arise 
from  our  nobler  nature.  They  who  would 
enjoy  life  wisely  and  well,  must  not  heed  every 
voice  which  cries  "  Lo,  here,"  or  "  Lo,  there," 
but  remember  that  "the  kingdom  is  within." 


CHAPTER    X. 


APPEAL    TO    THE    YOUNG    MEMBERS    OF    THE 
METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

"  /  have  written  unto  you,  young  men,  because  ye  are  strong, 
a7id  the  word  of  God  abideth  in  you,  and  ye  have  over- 
come the  "wicked  one."     I  John  ii,  14. 

BEFORE  we  part,  will  our  young  Chris- 
tian reader  "suffer  the  word  of  exhor- 
tation ?"  I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  situation 
in  which  you  are  placed.  You  have  associ- 
ates, intelligent,  agreeable  in  manners,  and 
not  immoral,  who  argue  stoutly  in  defense  of 
their  thoughtless  pleasures.  Your  conscience 
resists,  and  yet  you  feel  the  effect  of  their  so- 
licitations. You  are  sometimes  almost  ready 
to  wish  that  your  parents,  your  pastor,  your 

class-leader,  and  your  own  conscience  would 

169 


170  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

consent  to  your  yielding,  that  you  might  es- 
cape the  pressure  and  feel  no  conflict  between 
duty  and  the  wishes  of  your  gay  companions. 
Let  me  call  your  attention  to  certain  consid- 
erations, which  I  trust  will  have  the  effect  to 
strengthen  you  for  the  right. 

I.  Frivolotis  and  doitbtftd  aimisements  have 
always  been  condemned  by  the  Discipline  of  our 
Chnrch. 

Our  General  Rules  do  not  indeed  name 
dancing,  the  theater,  and  the  rest.  Had  they 
done  this,  it  might  have  been  argued  that  the 
Discipline  allows  every  folly  not  specified  in 
the  list.  Our  fathers  in  the  Church  were  too 
wise  thus  to  attempt  to  war  against  an  evil 
which  assumes  a  thousand  Protean  forms. 
They  announce  a  broad  principle,  which  con- 
demns all  ''such  diversions  as  can  not  be  used 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  JesicsT  Do  you  pro- 
fess to  be  in  doubt  as  to  the  true  intent  and 
meaning  of  the  Rule  ?  If  you  do,  look  at  the 
past  history  of  the  Church.     Which   of  the 


APPEAL  TO  YOUNG  MEMBERS.  lyi 

founders  of  Methodism  favored  dancing? 
Did  John  Wesley  ?  Did  Fletcher  or  Clarke  ? 
Which  of  them  favored  the  theater  or  the 
horse-race?  Did  Hedding,  or  Fisk,  or  Olin? 
I  challenge  the  apologists  for  dancing,  thea- 
ters, and  races  to  show  that  a  single  one  of 
the  multitude  of  holy  men  and  women  who 
have  a  name  in  our  annals  ever  practiced  or 
approved  such  diversions.  On  the  contrary, 
there  arise  from  their  honored  graves  a  great 
cloud  of  witnesses  against  them.  The  de- 
voted servants  of  God,  who  shine  as  stars  in 
our  firmament,  and  whose  names  are  "as  oint- 
ment poured  forth,"  condemned,  feared,  ab- 
horred them  as  utterly  at  war  with  the  life 
which  they  were  living  and  the  work  which 
they  were  doing.  Nor  were  these  the  views 
of  ignorant,  morose,  narrow-minded  people, 
soured  by  disappointment,  or  disabled  by  age 
or  disease,  but  of  intelligent,  happy  men  and 
women,  who  served  the  Lord  with  glad  hearts 
and  went  about  with  smiling  faces. 


1/2  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

Our  Church  traditions  are  unanimous  in 
regard  to  these  things.  The  testimony  which 
they  bear  is  uniform  and  strong.  Our  Bish- 
ops and  pastors  are  now  unanimous  in  their 
judgment.  Within  the  past  year,  Conference 
after  Conference  has  spoken  in  resolutions 
and  pastoral  addresses,  warning  our  young 
people  on  this  subject.  If,  therefore,  a  young 
man  here  and  there  among  us  finds  that  the 
practices  into  which  he  has  fallen  are  at  va- 
riance with  the  deliberate  judgment  of  the 
Wesleys,  the  Clarkes,  the  Asburys,  and  the 
Heddings  of  the  past,  and  all  the  Bishops 
and  pastors  of  the  present  day,  I  respectfully 
suggest  that  he  will  not  be  liable  to  be  con- 
victed of  excessive  modesty  if  he  should  be- 
gin to  suspect  that  his  ideas  on  the  subject 
are  wrong,  nor  of  excessive  caution  if  he 
should  conclude  to  refrain  from  indulgence 
till  he  is  better  assured  that  it  is  right  and 
safe.  Surely  no  one  will  count  it  a  light 
thing  to  disregard  the  teachings  of  a  century 


APPEAL  TO  YOUNG  MEMBERS.  I'Jl 

of  spiritual  power  and  progress,  nor  to  turn  a 
careless  ear  to  the  kind  and  faithful  counsels 
of  those  who  now  watch  for  souls. 

2.  Every  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  is  bound  by  a  solemn  pledge  to  abstain 
from  all  questionable  diversions,  such  as  those 
already  7tamed. 

In  the  form  given  in  the  Ritual  for  the  re- 
ception of  persons  into  the  Church  after  pro- 
bation, the  fourth  question  is  in  the  following 
words : 

"Will  you  be  cheerfully  governed  by  the 
Rules  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
hold  sacred  the  ordinances  of  God,  and  en- 
deavor, as  much  as  in  you  lies,  to  promote 
the  welfare  of  your  brethren  and  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  ?" 

To  this  question,  so  full  of  meaning,  each 
candidate  for  reception  must  answer,  before 
God  and  his  Church,  "I  will."  (Discipline, 
page  156.) 

Every    member   of  the    Church,   therefore, 


174 


POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 


solemnly  promises  before  God  and  the  people 
of  God  to  be  cheerfully  governed  by  the 
Rules  of  the  Church.  One  of  these  Rules 
calls  upon  you  to  avoid  "such  diversions  as 
can  not  be  used  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus."  That  Rule  has  always  been  under- 
stood to  condemn  balls  and  dancing,  thea- 
ters, attendance  at  horse-races,  and  the  whole 
list  of  corrupting  amusements.  The  logical 
chain,  then,  is  complete.  Every  member  of 
the  Church  is  bound,  in  the  most  solemn  man- 
ner,  by  his  or  her  own  pledge,  fully  and  pub- 
licly given,  to  abstain  from  balls,  dancing, 
theater-going,  and  the  rest. 

Can  you,  for  one  moment,  harbor  the 
thought  of  repudiating  so  solemn  an  obliga- 
tion .-*  The  Psalmist  inquires,  ^^  Lord,  who 
shall  abide  in  thy  tabernacle  f  Who  shall 
dwell  in  thy  holy  hillf  And  he  thus  an- 
swers his  own  question  :  "  He  that  sweareth 
to  his  own  hurt,  and  changeth  not^  God 
honors  those  who  are  faithful  to  their  word. 


APPEAL  TO  YOUNG  MEMBERS.  1 75 

He  delights  in  the  man  who  keeps  his  prom- 
ise, even  when  it  is  against  his  own  temporal 
interests  to  abide  by  it.  If  God  counts  it  a 
dishonorable  and  wrong  thing  for  a  man  to 
repudiate  a  pledge  given  to  his  fellow-man, 
what  will  he  think  of  those  who  repudiate  a 
solemn  public  pledge  made  to  him?  If  God 
honors  the  integrity  of  the  man  who  keeps 
his  word  when  his  interests  seem  to  call  upon 
him  to  violate  it,  what  will  he  say  of  those 
who  violate  their  word  when  all  their  inter- 
'ests,  both  temporal  .and  eternal,  call  upon 
them  to  keep  it? 

3.  When  tJie  young  people  connected  with  the 
Church  are  drazvn  into  frivolous  diversions,  it 
is  a  sorrow  of  Jieart  to  the  pastor  and  to  all 
devoted  Christians. 

Will  it  be  replied  that  these  faithful  friends 
of  years  are  so  narrow  and  antiquated  in  their 
notions,  that  no  one  need  care  what  they 
think  or  how  they  feel  ?  The  matter  can  not 
be  disposed  of  thus  lightly.     It  is  not  a  small 


176  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

thing  for  a  few  young  men  and  women,  before 
whom  real  Hfe  Ues  yet  untried,  to  set  up  their 
opinions,  and  bUndly  adhere  to  them,  in  op- 
position to  the  solemn  judgment  of  the  whole 
body  of  the  ministry.  It  is  not  a  small  thing 
to  wound,  deeply  and  wantonly,  those  whose 
acknowledged  consistency  and  holy  lives  are 
the  joy  and  crown  of  the  Church,  and  one  of 
the  main  elements  of  its  strength  in  the  com- 
munity. It  is  by  these,  and  such  as  they, 
and  God  working  through  them,  that  we  have 
Bibles  and  Sabbaths,  and  law  and  order,  and 
civilization  itself — all  that  exalts  a  Christian 
country  above  a  heathen  land.  These  de- 
voted followers  of  Christ  love  his  Church  and 
his  people.  Some  of  them  have  been  long  in 
the  way.  They  feel  that  they  are  approach- 
ing the  gates  of  tJie  city  ivhich  hath  founda- 
tions^ and  they  are  expecting  daily  the  shad- 
owy messenger  that  shall  bid  them  enter. 
Looking  to  the  younger  members  of  the 
Church  to  supply  the  places  which  they  will 


APPEAL  TO  YOUNG  MEMBERS.  1 77 

soon  leave  vacant,  they  may  well  be  troubled, 
and  shed  their  tears  over  the  gloomy  future, 
when  they 'see  youthful  professors  of  religion 
given  to  vain  and  trifling  pleasures  and  friv- 
olous pursuits,  trying  to  break  down  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Church,  and  strip  Methodism 
of  its  beauty  and  its  power,  and  wrest  from 
its  hands  the  spiritual  weapons  with  which  a 
thousand  victories  have  been  won. 

4.  When  young  Church  members  become 
giddy  and  fond  of  worldly  pleasure^  the  un- 
converted are  encouraged  to  go  on  in  their 
sijis. 

They  who  are  yet  unsaved  hear  the  ways 
of  wisdom  described  as  ways  of  pleasantness 
and  peace,  but  they  know  not  how  to  under- 
stand the  declaration.  They  confess  that  it 
is  good  to  have  a  hope  of  eternal  life,  just  as 
it  is  good  to  have  a  life-preserver  about  you 
when  you  are  going  to  make  a  sea-voyage. 
Still,  to  them  piety  is  a  mystery.  The  deep 
joy  of  devotion,  the  glow  and  the  rapture  of 


178  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

praise,  the  blessedness  of  communion  with 
God  they  can  not  comprehend.  They  listen, 
and  wonder,  and  sometimes  doubt  and  do  not 
know  what  to  think.  But  when  they  find 
that  young  members  of  the  Church  are  just 
as  eager  as  themselves  after  questionable 
pleasures,  they  conclude  that  these  roseate 
pictures  of  the  happiness  of  the  Christian 
are,  to  say  the  least,  overdone.  When  they 
see  the  flock  trying  the  fence  on  all  sides  of 
the  fold,  and  stretching  their  heads  through 
every  opening,  to  nibble  at  the  weeds  outside, 
they  begin  to  suspect  that  the  pasture  within 
is  not  as  rich  as  it  is  represented.  Thus  the 
inconsistent  conduct  of  professed  Christians 
who  plunge  into  worldly  amusements  harms 
souls  and  injures  a  holy  cause. 

And  sinners,  too,  are  inconsistent  witlr 
themselves.  Now  they  argue  that  religion  > 
all  delusion,  because,  as  they  say,  its  profes- 
sors are  no  better  than  other  people ;  now 
they  insist   that   their  soulless  pursuits  must 


APPEAL  TO  YOUNG  MEMBERS.  179 

be  right,  because  even  members  of  the 
Church  indulge  in  them.  Thus  they  seek  to 
justify  their  follies  and  their  sins  by  the  ex- 
ample of  worldly  Church  members.  More- 
over, they  will  endeavor  to  make  a  little  in 
you  justify  a  great  deal  in  them.  Tell  a  sin- 
ner that  he  is  not  wise  in  attending  balls, 
and  he  will  twit  you  with  the  parlor  dancing 
at  some  well-known  professor's  house.  Warn 
him  against  the  theater,  and  he  will  ask  you 
to  point  out  the  moral  difference  between  that 
and  the  play  at  the  museum.  Tell  him  that 
the  gambling  den  is  a  dangerous  place  for 
young  men,  and  he  will  remark,  with  a  sig- 
nificant look,  that  living  away  from  home  he 
can  not  play  cards  in  his  father's  house,  as 
some  do.  And  what  professors  of  religion  do 
occasionally,  the  unconverted,  on  the  strength 
of  their  example,  will  claim  the  right  to  do 
constantly  and  habitually.  Thus  the  thought- 
less conduct  of  Church  members  is  made  to 
increase  the  perils  which  environ  the  unsaved, 


l80  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS, 

and  to  hedge  up  the  only  way  of  life.  To  in- 
cur, or  even  risk,  consequences  like  these  for 
the  sake  of  a  momentary  excitement,  is  cer- 
tainly to  do  the  devil's  work  for  low  wages. 

5.  If  you  indulge  in  diversions  which  are 
thus  under  condemnatioiiy  it  can  not  fail  to 
lessen  your  religious  enjoyment  and  mar  your 
usefulness. 

You  may  seem  to  yourself  to  be  confident 
that  your  course  is  right,  but  the  conscious- 
ness that  others,  whose  judgment  you  must 
respect,  believe  it  to  be  wrong,  brings  a  cloud 
over  you.  The  fact  that  you  are  doing  what 
they  condemn  will  haunt  you  in  church,  at 
the  prayer-meeting,  and  every-where.  The 
fact  that  you  do  this,  not  under  any  plea  of 
necessity,  but  for  mere  pastime  and  moment- 
ary pleasure,  will  not  mend  matters.  How- 
ever kind  and  considerate  the  older  members 
of  the  Church  may  be  in  their  allusions  to 
your  course,  you  feel  that  you  have  not  their 
confidence  fully.     This  will  trouble  you,  per- 


APPEAL  TO  YOUNG  MEMBERS.  l8l 

haps  irritate  you.  You  fancy  that  you  are 
looked  upon  coldly.  You  detect  little  in- 
stances of  neglect.  You  imagine  that  cer- 
tain expressions  in  sermons  of  your  pastor 
or  the  prayers  of  your  brethren  were  meant 
for  you.  Things  get  worse  the  longer  you 
brood  over  them.  You  are  tempted  first  to 
stay  away  from  the  sacrament,  and  then  to 
neglect  the  other  means  of  grace.  Some 
well-meaning  but  clumsy  brother  pounces 
upon  you  at  a  most  untimely  moment,  ad- 
ministers a  scathing  rebuke,  and  goes  on 
his  way  happy,  blessing  the  Lord  that  there 
is  one  Christian  left  who  has  the  courage 
to  do  his  duty.  Now  you  are  really  angry. 
You  are  ready  to  imagine  that  all  the  rest 
of  the  Church  would  talk  the  same  way 
if  they  should  speak  their  minds.  Thus, 
little  by  little,  you  veer  from  your  Christian 
course,  the  mists  gather  around  you,  the  stars 
disappear,  you  fall  into  adverse  currents,  and, 
it  may  be,  finally  strike  upon  the  rocks,  and 


1 82  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

make   shipwreck   of  faith   and   a   good   con- 
science. 

Will  you  say  that  the  evils  depicted  flow 
not  from  your  conduct,  but  from  the  censo- 
riousness  of  the  Church  ?  If  all  were  silent, 
the  result  would  not  be  materially  different. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  immov- 
able in  her  position  in  regard  to  these  things. 
If  you  violate  her  Discipline,  you  can  not 
shut  out  the  thought  that  you  are  an  un- 
faithful, disloyal  member  of  her  communion. 
This  alone  will  suffice  to  bring  a  chill  and  a 
blight  upon  you.  The  world,  too,  see  that 
you  are  not  in  accord  with  your  brethren — 
not  at  home  in  the  place  which  you  occupy — 
and  this  encourages  them  to  ply  their  arts  to 
lead  you  still  further.  If  you  resist,  they  re- 
mind you  of  your  own  past  conduct,  and  in- 
quire, perhaps  with  a  sneer,  whence  comes 
this  sudden  tenderness  of  conscience.  If 
others  rebuke  them,  they  refer  to  you,  with 
another   sneer,   as   their   exemplars.     Surely, 


APPEAL  TO  YOUNG  MEMBERS.  1 83 

the  poor  pleasure  which  springs  from  ques- 
tionable diversions  is  bought  at  too  high  a 
price  when  it  costs  us  our  consistency,  the 
warm  fellowship  of  Christian  people,  peace  of 
conscience,  and  the  power  to  do  good. 

6.  /;/  morals  compromises  are  not  only  trea- 
son to  truth  and  righteoiiS7tess,  hU  compromised 
positions  are  of  all  the  hardest  to  defend  in  ar- 
gument and  maintain  in  practice. 

You  have  acquaintances,  intelligent  and 
agreeable,  but  gay  and  inconsiderate,  who  are 
unwearied  in  their  efforts  to  draw  you  into 
their  circle.  Their  importunities  are  urgent, 
and  it  taxes  all  your  powers  of  resistance  to 
withstand  them.  You  grow  weary  of  the 
conflict  betvVeen  duty  and  inclination,  and 
wish  for  rest.  The  thought  occurs  to  you 
that  if  you  go  a  little  way  with  your  tempters 
they  will  be  satisfied,  and  no  great  harm  will 
be  done. 

You  reason  amiss.  To  compromise  with 
wrong    is    never    the    end   of   conflict.     You 


1 84  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

must  conquer  a  peace.  If  you  do  not  mean 
to  make  a  complete  surrender  to  the  world, 
the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  there  must  be  a  point 
where  the  line  is  drawn,  and  the  stand  taken. 
Where  will  you  place  the  line  ?  Will  you  try 
to  draw  it  half  way  between  right  and  wrong  ? 
If  you  do  you  will  abandon  a  strong  position 
for  a  weak  one.  If  you  yield  in  regard  to 
dancing  in  private  parties,  you  will  be  in- 
vited, in  due  time,  to  attend  a  ball.  If  you 
go  to  see  some  "moral  drama"  performed  at 
the  museum,  you  will  be  urged  to  attend  the 
theater.  And  the  assault  made  on  your  half- 
way position  will  be  just  as  strong,  the  con- 
flict just  as  painful,  and  to  refuse  just  as  hard 
as  you  now  find  it.  The  place  of  undoubted 
right  is  at  once  the  safest  to  occupy  and  the 
easiest  to  maintain,  and  it  is  bad  generalship 
to  try  to  intrench  at  any  other  point.  And 
to  parley  with  the  enemy  is  the  next  thing  to 
a  surrender. 

Fight   it  out,  then,  on    this   line.     Life  is 


APPEAL   TO  YOUNG  MEMBERS.  1 85 

brief,  and  close  beyond  it  lie  heaven  and  hell. 
If  you  take  one  single  step  in  the  direction 
of  danger  and  ruin  in  search  of  fleeting  pleas- 
ures, will  you  think,  ten  thousand  ages  hence, 
that  in  this  you  were  wise?  The  foolish  di- 
versions in  which  you  are  now  importuned  to 
join  war  with  health,  waste  time,  squander 
money,  mar  Christian  reputation,  dissipate 
serious  thought,  hinder  usefulness,  attack  ev- 
ery temporal  and  every  eternal  interest.  Can 
you  persuade  yourself  that  it  is  right  for  you, 
for  the  sake  of  an  hour's  feverish  excitement, 
to  tarnish  your  religious  example,  grieve  your 
fellow-behevers,  lay  a  burden  upon  your  pas- 
tor's heart,  wantonly  throw  away  your  power 
to  do  good,  and  give  new  courage  to  the 
wicked.? 

Will  you  still  try  to  apologize  for  question- 
able pleasures .?  The  entire  board  of  Bishops, 
the  General  Conference,  your  pastors,  without 
an  exception,  all  the  deeply  pious  men  and 
women  of  the  Church,  believe  that  dancing, 


1 86  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

card-playing,  going  to  the  theater  and  the 
races  are  unwise,  inexpedient,  hurtful  to  the 
spiritual  interests  of  those  who  engage  in 
them,  and  damaging  to  the  moral  power  of 
the  Church  of  God.  Nor  do  they  stand  alone 
in  this  solemn  judgment.  The  most  intelli- 
gent and  devoted  Christians  in  the  various 
Churches  around  us  share  these  convictions. 
Will  you  set  yourself  in  array  against  whole 
Conferences,  Councils,  and  General  Assem- 
blies.? And  if  you  deem  yourself  equal  in 
judgment  to  all  combined,  let  me  ask  you 
another  question:  Is  your  conclusion  as  safe 
as  theirs }  They  think  it  dangerous  to  dance, 
play  cards,  and  attend  the  theater.  Are  you 
equally  confident  that  it  is  dangerous  not  to 
dance,  7iot  to  play  cards,  not  to  attend  the 
theater.''  Is  abstinence  as  perilous  as  in- 
dulgence .-^  They  fear  that  God  will  not  hold 
you  guiltless  if  you  venture  into  these  frivol- 
ities. Are  you  as  fully  persuaded  that  God 
will  condemn  you  if  you  do  not  venture  into 


APPEAL  TO  YOUNG  MEMBERS.  1 8/ 

them  ?  The  clanger  is  all  on  one  side.  Be- 
ware how  you  venture  where  there  is  cause 
for  hesitation.  Remember,  "he  that  doubt- 
eth,"  and  yet  goes  on  when  he  might  safely 
stop,  "is  damned." 


'-#r- 


CHAPTER    XI. 
APPEAL  TO   THE   CHURCH. 

^^  And  they  shall  teach  my  people  the  difference  between  the  holy 
and  profane^  and  cause  them  to  discern  between  the  unclean 
and  the  clean^''    Ezekiel  xliv,  23. 

ON  moral  and  religious  questions  com- 
promise is  treason  to  the  right.  La- 
fayette's witty  and  just  illustration  is  well 
applied.  He  supposes  two  men  to  get  into 
an  altercation  in  regard  to  a  fact  in  arith- 
metic. ''Twice  two  is  four,"  says  the  one, 
stoutly.  "No,"  replies  the  other,  "twice  two 
is  six."  Both  are  immovable,  and  the  dispute 
waxes  warm.  A  third  person  approaches, 
and  lays  a  hand  gently  upon  each.  "Gen- 
tlemen, reason  is  not  infallible.     The  wisest 

men    are   sometimes    in    error.     We   are    all 

189 


190  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

prone  to  rush  to  extremes.  You,  my  friend, 
affirm  that  twice  two  is  four.  You,  who  are 
equally  my  friend,  affirm  that  twice  two  is 
six.  Compromise,  gentlemen,  compromise. 
Meet  each  other  half  way.  Agree  to  say, 
hereafter,  that  twice  two  is  five." 

Men  are  not  lacking  who,  even  in  consid- 
ering points  of  morals  and  religion,  are  ready 
to  confess  that  really,  after  all,  so  far  at  least 
as  their  present  information  extends,  twice 
two  is  somewhere  about  five.  Nay,  in  their 
haste  to  meet  what  they  style  the  demands 
of  the  age,  some  are  ready  to  compromise  at 
iive  and  ninety-nine  hundredths.  And  thus, 
all  the  way  from  what  St.  John  calls  "the 
camp  of  the  saints  and  the  beloved  city" 
down  to  the  place  where  Gog  and  Magog  are 
gathering  their  hosts  for  battle,  men  are 
pitching  their  flimsy  tents  and  raising  their 
equivocal  banners.  It  is  a  lamentable  fact 
that  among  the  chief  obstacles  to  the  prog- 
ress of  the  Gospel  we  are  compelled  to  count 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CHURCH.  191 

bodies  that  claim  to  belong  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  yet  have  neither  the  heart  to 
preach  his  doctrines  nor  the  courage  to  pro- 
claim his  law.  In  all  ages  there  have  been 
sects  of  nominal  Christians,  who  form  a  part 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  the  same  sense 
that  the  outside  scales  of  a  shell-bark  hickory- 
are  a  part  of  the  tree,  and  who  are  ever  ready 
to  compromise  with  the  world  and  tolerate  all 
fashionable  foUies.  Worldly  men  would  man- 
age the  affairs  of  a  Church  in  the  same  man- 
ner that  they  would  conduct  a  political  cam- 
paign. The  argument  is,  that  in  order  to  be 
popular,  and  grow  rapidly  in  numbers  and  in 
wealth,  the  Church  must  lay  as  few  restric- 
tions as  possible  upon  candidates  for  admis- 
sion, and  as  seldom  as  possible  come  into 
collision  with  the  pleasures  and  the  passions 
of  the  multitude. 

Mr.  Bright,  in  a  recent  speech  in  the  Brit- 
ish Parliament  on  the  disestablishment  of  the 
Irish   Church,  gives,  iu  a  sentence  or  two,  a 


192 


POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 


correct  description  of  this  policy  which  we 
have  here  mentioned : 

"The  Right  Honorable  gentleman,  the  mem- 
ber from  Bucks,  argued ,  very  much  in  favor 
of  the  Established  Church  on  the  ground  that 
there  ought  to  be  some  place  into  which  peo- 
ple can  get  who  would  not  readily  be  admitted 
any  where  else.  The  fact  is,  what  the  Right 
Honorable  gentleman  wants  is  this :  that  we 
shall  have  an  established  Church  which  has 
no  discipline,  and  that  any  one  who  will  live 
up  to  what  may  be  called  a  gentlemanly  con- 
formity to  it  may  pass  through  the  world  as 
a  very  satisfactory  sort  of  Christian." 

But  the  wisdom  of  this  world  is  foolishness 
with  God.  This  mercenary  policy  fails  by 
the  very  measures  to  which  it  resorts.  When 
the  wicked  see  no  distinction  between  the 
Church  and  the  world  they  cease  to  respect 
the  Church.  Even  the  hypocrite  finds  his 
occupation  gone  when  a  profession  of  relig- 
ion means  nothing,  just  as  the   counterfeiter 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CHURCH.  1 93 

Stops  work  when  the  bank  fails  and  its  notes 
are  no  longer  current.  Thus  the  cunning  of 
men  overleaps  itself.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Church  that  boldly  joins  issue  with  sin  wins 
moral  power  with  every  blow,  and  secures  the 
respect  even  of  the  enemy.  Thus  they  who 
feebly  seek  to  save  their  lives  lose  them,  while 
those  who  are  ready  to  lose  life  for  Christ's 
sake  and  the  Gospel's  find  it. 

The  principle  stated  is  of  infinite  impor- 
tance, and  we  must  neither  forget  it  nor  dis- 
trust it  for  an  hour.  All  who  fear  God  will 
confess  that  we  are  not  to  withhold  the  truth 
nor  compromise  with  sin,  even  if  the  multi- 
tude desert  our  altars  to  crowd  where  the 
cross  is  lighter  or  its  ofiense  has  wholly 
ceased.  But  is  it  true  that  worldly  craft  and 
policy  will  fail  even  as  a  policy.?  Let  an- 
other question  answer  this.  Other  things 
being  equal  among  rival  denominations,  have 
not  the  purest  in  doctrine  and  the  strictest 

in  morals  always  been  the  most  successful? 
13 


194  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

Churches  grow  weak  by  lowering  the  stand- 
ard of  morals.  When  there  is  no  discovera- 
ble difference  between  the  Church  and  the 
world,  the  Church  is  no  longer  loved,  or  ven- 
erated, or  believed.  It  becomes  powerless  to 
pull  down  the  strongholds  of  sin  ;  it  can  no 
more  stir  the  heart,  nor  rouse  the  conscience, 
nor  reach  the  mysterious  depths  of  our  na- 
ture ;  it  ceases  to  meet  the  religious  wants 
of  those  whose  hearts  God  has  touched,  and 
men  turn  away  unsatisfied  from  its  shallow 
waters.  The  scorner  will  be  loud  in  his  de- 
nunciations of  religionists  whose  vows  are  but 
the  breath  of  the  moment,  and  whose  profes- 
sions mean  nothing.  Even  the  soul  con- 
vinced of  guilt  and  danger  will  be  afraid  to 
trust  to  the  guidance  of  a  Church  which  has 
in  it  so  little  of  the  divine,  so  little  of  the 
power  of  God. 

Methodism  took  at  the  beginning,  and  has 
held  to  this  day,  what  some  might  regard  as 
extreme  positions  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 


APPEAL   TO  THE  CHURCH.  195 

worldly  amusements,  and  the  drinking  cus- 
toms of  the  times.  What  is  the  verdict  of 
history?  Have  we  damaged  ourselves  by  our 
fidelity  to  the  right?  Some  timid,  half-con- 
victed people  have  doubtless  been  repelled 
from  our  communion  by  the  strictness  of 
Methodist  discipline  and  the  boldness  with 
which  we  have  assaulted  the  wrong,  but  who 
believes  that  the  Church  would  have  grown 
more  rapidly  by  compromise  and  cowardice  ? 
Who  believes  that  it  would  be  wise,  even 
according  to  the  wisdom  of  this  world,  to 
compromise  with  evil  now  ?  Zion  is  not 
"  lengthening  her  cords  and  strengthening 
her  stakes"  in  a  Scriptural  manner  when  she 
"stretches  the  curtains  of  her  tent"  to  shel- 
ter dancing,  card-playing,  and  wine-bibbing 
converts.  If  these  should  come  in  crowds, 
offering  on  these  conditions  to  join  us,  we 
could  not  receive  them.  To  do  so  would  be 
to  act  as  madly  as  would  the  general  who,  in 
an   enemy's  country,   commands  his   soldiers 


196  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

to  throw  away  their  arms,  call  in  the  senti- 
nels, and  level  the  intrenchments,  in  order  to 
gain  a  few  timid  recruits  who  would  not  wear 
the  uniform  an  hour  if  they  thought  that  it 
meant  war. 

Nor  is  our  argument  disproved  by  the  his- 
tory of  modern  ecclesiastical  organizations 
which  have  been  less  rigid  than  our  own 
Church.  In  an  intelligent  community,  where 
the  Bible  is  read,  their  laxity  is  always  against 
them.  And  in  those  very  denominations  the 
really  pious,  whose  influence  and  example  are 
the  very  salt  of  the  body,  to  preserve  it  from 
putrefaction,  and  without  whom  it  would 
hardly  be  recognized  as  a  religious  body  at 
all,  do  not  join  in  these  questionable  prac- 
tices themselves,  nor  do  they  advocate  them 
in  others. 

The  way  in  which  the  world  reasons  about 
a  facile  Church  is  well  illustrated  by  a  conver- 
sation which  actually  took  place  not  long  ago 
between  a  sort  of  a   minister  and  a  shrewd, 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CHURCH.  197 

irreligious  rich  man,  whom  he  wished  to  get 
in  his  little  fold. 

"  Mr.  B ,"  said  the  clergyman,  "  almost 

all  your  family  have  joined  the  Church,  and  I 
think  it  is  about  time  for  you  to  do  the  same." 

"O,  I  am  not  fit  to  join  the  Church.  I 
am  not  at  all  pious,  you  know,"  was  the 
reply. 

"  But,"  said  the  minister,  "  you  are  aware 
that  we  are  not  very  strict.  Our  Church 
does  not  require  as  much  as  some  others." 

"  But  I  am  not  right,"  said  Mr.  B .     "  I 

sometimes  get  angry  and  swear,  and  that  will 
not  do  for  a  member  of  the  Church." 

"  O,  well,"  answered  the  minister,  "  you  do 
not  mean  any  harm  by  it,  do  you  ?  That 
need  not  hinder." 

"  But,  parson,  that  is  not  all.  I  am  in  busi- 
ness. I  trade  horses,  for  instance,  and  make 
the  best  bargain  I  can  ;  and  some  people  say 
that  I  tell  lies  in  making  my  bargains." 

"  O,  well,"  said  the  parson,  "  it  is  right  for 


198  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

US  to  take  care  of  our  interests.  That  need 
not  hinder  you," 

"Now,  look  here,  parson,"  said  our  friend, 
somewhat  excited,  "  what  good  will  it  do  me 
to  join  your  Church  if  I  need  not  be  any 
thing  but  what  I  am  ?  I  am  not  a  Christian 
now,  I  know;  but  if  I  ever  join  the  Church, 
I  mean  to  be  one." 

Even  the  world,  unsaved,  dim  in  vision, 
and  hard  in  heart,  has  learned  enough  of 
the  truth  to  despise  those  who  are  ready  to 
sacrifice  religion  for  the  sake  of  numbers, 
and  the  pecuniary  and  social  strength  which 
numbers  bring.  If  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  should  abandon  her  traditions,  and 
retreat  from  her  present  high  position  in 
morals,  her  apostasy  would  be  attended  by 
a  fearful  loss  of  religious  power.  If  such  an 
exhortation  were  allowable,  I  would  call  on 
all  upon  whom  devolves  the  oversight  of  the 
Church  to  stand  firm  for  the  strict  morals  of 
Methodism.     There   is   always   a  difficulty  in 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CHURCH.  1 99 

maintaining  Scriptural  discipline.  To  enforce 
it  is  often  painful  to  the  pastor.  It  some- 
times disturbs  the  membership  and  the  com- 
munity, interrupting  friendly  intercourse  and 
exciting  evil  passions ;  nevertheless,  we  can 
not  give  up  Church  order.  The  pressure  can 
be  escaped  only  by  a  complete  abandonment 
of  discipline.  Concessions  and  compromises 
merely  transfer  the  battle  to  another  point, 
where  we  must  again  fight,  our  forces  demor- 
alized by  defeat  and  the  enemy  em.boldened 
by  victory. 

If  there  is  any  place  which  we  can  hold 
against  the  enemy,  any  line  where  we  can 
muster  our  forces  and  repel  invasion,  it  is  on 
the  frontier.  The  king  who  fails  to  meet  his 
foes  the  moment  they  set  foot  within  his  ter- 
ritory is  already  conquered.  Drawing  the 
line,  and  taking  her  stand  in  favor  of  total 
abstinence  from  all  that  intoxicates,  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  has  kept  herself  pure 
from  the  sin  and  shame  of  intemperance,  and 


200  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

yet  not  one  in  ten  thousand  of  her  mem- 
,bers  is  ever  arraigned  for  violation  of  the 
stringent  rule.  Could  the  Church  tolerate 
what  is  called  "  moderate  drinking "  without 
being  compelled  to  deal  with  multitudes 
whom  moderate  drinking  had  led  into  the 
depths  of  drunkenness  ?  For  the  same  rea- 
son it  is  easier  to  keep  our  young  people 
from  objectionable  diversions  than  to  disci- 
pline them  for  the  grosser  inconsistencies 
into  which  indulgence  would  speedily  lead 
them. 

Will  it  be  said  that  if  we  are  so  rigid  our 
young  people  will  leave  us  and  join  other 
communions }  Be  it  so,  if  it  must.  They 
who  are  in  haste  to  sell  their  membership  in 
the  Church  for  so  poor  and  small  a  mess  of 
pottage  can  do  us  little  good  if  they  remain. 
They  go  out  from  its  because  tJiey  ai'e  not  of 
tis.  A  thousand  dancing,  wine-bibbing,  card- 
playing,  theater-going  Church  members  will 
not    furnish    one    worthy    candidate    for    the 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CHURCH.  201 

Christian  ministry,  not  one  devoted  class- 
leader,  not  one  pious  man  or  woman  ready 
for  the  spiritual  work  of  the  Church  of  God. 
If  they  leave  us  in  order  to  seek  a  more  con- 
genial home,  we  can  better  afford  to  lose  than 
to  keep  them.  The  rubbing  out  of  minus 
quantities  increases  the  sum  total.  And  if 
any  other  Church,  so  called,  imagine  that 
they  can  make  their  swarm  the  stronger  by 
hiving  our  drones,  they  are  certainly  welcome 
to  try  the  experiment.  If  there  be  a  noble 
emulation  that  may  justly  prompt  us  to  "la- 
bor more  abundantly"  than  others,  and  excel 
them  if  we  may,  in  Gospel  successes,  we  need 
not  fear  the  rivalry  of  any  fashionable,  worldly, 
easy-going  denomination.  Such  as  these  will 
never  "take  our  crown."  Pure  doctrine,  a 
faithful  ministry,  unwavering  adherence  to  the 
Divine  law  of  morals,  a  devoted,  holy,  earnest 
laity,  alone  will  win  the  prize. 

But  let  us   not  flatter   ourselves  with   the 
idea  of  a  vantage-ground  which  no  one  else 


202  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

has  the  wisdom  to  see  nor  the  grace  to  oc- 
cupy. No  low  degree  of  morality  will  suffice 
to  place  us  at  the  head  of  the  sacramental 
host,  or  even  give  us  a  position  among  the 
leaders.  Others  as  well  as  ourselves  see  the 
beauty  of  holiness,  and  are  striving  to  put 
on  the  robe  "  white  and  clean "  which  is 
"  the  righteousness  of  saints."  Almost  every 
branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ  has  taken 
the  alarm,  and,  by  its  leading  ministers  or 
resolutions  passed  in  ecclesiastical  councils, 
has  spoken  emphatic  words  of  warning.  It 
would  be  easy  to  fill  scores  of  pages  with 
these  utterances,  coming  from  Churches  dif- 
fering widely  in  doctrine  and  in  usage.  A 
few  extracts,  with  the  sources  whence  they 
emanate,  will  show  us  the  sentiments  and 
convictions  of  the  general  Church  in  our 
whole  land. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  thus  spoke  half  a  century  ago : 

"On  the  fashionable  though,  as  we  believe, 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CHURCH.  203 

dangerous  amusements  of  theatrical  exhibi- 
tions and  dancing,  we  deem  it  necessary  to 
make  a  few  observations.  The  theater  we 
have  always  considered  as  a  school  of  im- 
morality. .  .  With  respect  to  dancing,  we 
think  it  necessary  to  observe  that  however 
plausible  it  may  appear  to  some,  it  is  perhaps 
not  the  less  dangerous  on  account  of  that 
plausibility.  .  .  Let  it  once  be  introduced 
and  it  is  difficult  to  give  it  limits.  It  steals 
away  precious  time,  dissipates  religious  im- 
pressions, and  hardens  the  heart." 

The  General  Assembly  of  1865  reaffirmed 
the  action  of  the  session  of  18 18,  condemned 
card-playing — to  which  attention  had  been 
called  by  a  memorial — and  "affectionately  ex- 
horted all  the  members  of  the  Church"  to 
avoid  "all  recreations  and  amusements  which 
are  calculated  to  impair  spirituality,  lessen 
Christian  influence,  or  bring  discredit  upon 
them  in  their  profession  as  members  of  a 
Christian  Church." 


204  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

Bishop  M'llvaine,  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  thus  declares  his  judgment  on 
the  same  subject: 

"  Let  me  now  turn  to  two  objects,  in  which 
there  is  no  difficulty  of  discrimination — the 
theater  and  the  dance.  The  only  line  I  would 
draw  in  regard  to  these  is  that  of  entire  ex- 
clusion. And  yet,  my  brethren,  I  am  well 
aware  how  easy  it  is  for  the  imagination  to 
array  both  of  these  in  such  an  abstract  and 
elementary  simplicity,  so  divested  of  all  that 
gives  them  their  universal  character  and 
relish,  that  no  harm  could  be  detected  in 
either.  And  the  same  precisely  can  be  easily 
done  with  the  card-table  and  horse-race." 

Bishop  Mead,  also  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  thus  condemns  dancing: 

"As  an  amusement,  seeing  that  it  is  a  per- 
version of  an  ancient  religious  exercise,  and 
has  ever  been  discouraged  by  the  sober- 
minded  and  pious  of  all  nations,  on  account 
of  its  evil    tendencies    and   accompaniments, 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CHURCH.  205 

we  ought  conscientiously  to  inquire  whether 
its  great  liability  to  abuse,  and  its  many  ag- 
knowledged  abuses,  should  not  make  us  frown 
upon  it  ill  all  its  forms.  I  will  briefly  allude 
to  some  of  the  objections  to  it.  When  taught 
to  the  young  at  an  early  age,  it  is  attended 
with  an  expense  of  time  and  money  which 
might  be  far  better  employed.  It  promotes 
the  love  of  dress  and  pleasure,  to  which  the 
young  are  already  too  prone ;  it  tempts  to 
vanity  and  love  of  display ;  it  induces  a 
strong  desire  to  enter  on  the  amusements  of 
the  world  at  an  early  period,  in  order  to  ex- 
hibit the  accomplishments  thus  acquired,  and 
to  enjoy  a  pleasure  for  which  a  taste  has  been 
formed;  it  leads  the  young  ones  exactly  into 
an  opposite  direction  to  that  pointed  out  in 
the  Word  of  God." 

In  their  Episcopal  Address  of  1867,  the 
Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South  thus  speak: 

"This  is  no  time  to  abate  our  testimony 


206  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

against  worldliness  in  all  its  forms.  Our 
Church  has  never  faltered  in  its  teaching  or 
modified  its  tone  in  relation  to  dancing,  thea- 
ters, the  manufacture  and  sale  of  ardent  spir- 
its, drunkenness,  revelings,  and  such  like,  as 
demoralizing  and  fatal  to  godliness.  Now 
that  we  are  threatened  with  these  evils  com- 
ing in  like  a  flood,  we  renew  our  warning." 

In  1866  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation held  a  General  Convention  in  Albany, 
New  York.  Delegates  were  present  from  all 
parts  of  the  United  .States  and  the  British 
Provinces.  The  question  of  amusements 
was  carefully  considered,  and  the  conclusion 
reached  was  set  forth  in  a  formal  resolution, 
thus : 

"That  we  bear  our  energetic  testimony 
against  dancing,  card  and  billiard-playing,  as 
so  distinctively  worldly  in  their  associations, 
and  unspiritual  in  their  influences,  as  to  be 
utterly  inconsistent  with  our  profession  as  the 
disciples  of  Christ." 


APPEAL   TO  THE  CHURCH.  20/ 

And  last  of  all,  but  not  least  in  the  wisdom 
of  the  sentiments  uttered,  nor  in  the  faithful- 
ness of  its  warnings,  we  cite  the  Pastoral  Let- 
ter of  the  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore, 
the  voice  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church.     It  is  dated  May,  1869: 

"The  dangerous  amusements,  prominent 
among  the  evils  we  have  to  deplore,  and 
which  is  an  evidence  of  the  growing  licen- 
tiousness of  the  times,  may  be  reckoned  a 
morbid  taste  for  indecent  publications,  and 
the  frequency  of  immoral  or  positively  ob- 
scene theatrical  performances.  No  entertain- 
ments seem  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  fast  de- 
generating spirit  of  the  age  unless  they  be 
highly  sensational,  and  calculated  to  gratify 
the  most  prurient  appetites.  We  can  hardly 
say  who  deserve  a  stronger  condemnation, 
the  actors  who  pander  to  the  most  vitiated 
tastes,  or  the  audiences  who  encourage,  by 
their  presence,  and  applaud  these  grossly  in- 
delicate exhibitions.     Both  actors  and  spec- 


208  POPULAR  AMUSEMENTS. 

tators  appear  to  vie  with  each  in  their  rapid 
march  down  the  sHppery  path  of  sin.  We 
deem  it  particularly  our  solemn  duty  to  renew 
our  warning  against  the  modern  fashionable 
dances,  commonly  called  'German/  or  round 
dances,  which  are  becoming  more  and  more 
the  occasions  of  sin.  These  practices  are  so 
much  the  more  dangerous  as  most  persons 
seem  to  look  upon  them  as  harmless,  and  in- 
dulge in  them  without  any  apparent  remorse 
of  conscience.  But  Divine  revelation,  the 
wisdom  of  antiquity,  the  light  of  reason  and 
of  experience,  all  concur  in  proclaiming  that 
this  kind  of  entertainments  can  not  be  in- 
dulged in  by  any  virtuous  persons,  unless 
they  be  more  than  human,  without  detriment 
to  their  souls,  or  even  be  present  to  take 
part  in  such  amusem.ents,  where  the  eye  is 
dazzled  by  an  array  of  fascinating  objects, 
where  the  senses  are  captivated  by  enchant- 
ing music,  and  the  heart  is  swayed  to  and  fro 
amid  the  surrounding  gayety  and  excitement." 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CHURCH.  209 

With  these  facts,  arguments,  appeals,  and 
testimonies  we  leave  the  subject  to  the  sol- 
emn consideration  of  the  reader,  believing 
that  the  position  which  we  have  taken  is  ra- 
tional, Scriptural,  and  safe,  "by  manifestation 
of  the  truth  commending"  itself  "to  every 
man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God." 

"Finally,  brethren,  whatsoever  things 

ARE  TRUE,   W^HATSOEVER    THINGS  ARE   HONEST, 

whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever 
things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are 
lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good 
report;  if  there  be  any  virtue  and  if 
there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these 

THINGS." 


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